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Waiting on Empennage Kit.....Are you?

I ordered in Aug 2021, and my KitStatus was just updated to "May 30 2022 - Jun 20 2022". I guess one month pushed me to the next "train".

I ordered all kits 7/14/21. Received an email a couple days ago saying empennage was delayed until May 30 2022 - Jun 20 2022. Pushed it out another month basically from the previous dates quoted. In the meantime I bought a prop strike IO-540 to rebuild. Yeah, kinda backwards I know...
 
My empennage kit has shipped. The status website says items on back order.

Can anyone with a recently received kit chime in with what items they may have had backordered? Just curious to hear what might be missing from the initial shipment. Can’t wait to start inventory!

Patrick
 
I received an RV-9 empennage kit Saturday. The only back ordered item was the vertical stabilizer spar.
 
Also received my -9 empennage kit yesterday. Missing the vertical stab spar (VS-803PP, though I did get a nice handwritten sticky note saying ‘add VS-803PP x1’) and one hardware bag. Nothing on the packing list to indicate those are backordered vs just missing, but pretty complete otherwise.
 
My empennage kit has shipped. The status website says items on back order.

Can anyone with a recently received kit chime in with what items they may have had backordered? Just curious to hear what might be missing from the initial shipment. Can’t wait to start inventory!

Patrick

RV-10 empennage?
 
Another FYI for those waiting, RV-10 empennage now shipping in two crates.

Is it two crates because, obviously, the back ordered part will be in a separate shipment, or is it two crates and then a third with backordered parts?
 
I emailed and was told to two crates is the new normal for RV 10 empennage.

I’m not certain but I’m inferring that a trailing edge wedge is the backordered part.

Additionally my bill of lading shows two crates.
 
Received one of the two crates for the -10 empennage. Other was mis-shipped someplace else. Hopefully the find it soon.
The missing crate contains at least the Main Spar for the Vert Stab, as well as the rear spar caps.
Of course the rudder needs the trailing edge, which i on back-order.
I had started working on the wings, which I received a couple of weeks ago, and was pleased when I heard the empennage was coming, so I could work on simpler things to start. Guess I will get to wait a while longer...
 
Received my two empennage crates yesterday. Both were in great shape, Old Dominion did an amazing job getting the boxes across the country.

Inventory complete, nearly perfect packing job by the Vans team. It took 10.5 months but now the fun begins!

Patrick
 
Be aware that shipping could happen with very little warning!

I got one email today that my emp kit moved into crating (yesterday status reported crating window was 5/30 thru 6/20.)

I got another email an hour later with the BOL from Old Dominion. Kit will ship on Tues, 5/31, and I should receive it 6-7 days from now!
 
Be aware that shipping could happen with very little warning!

I got one email today that my emp kit moved into crating (yesterday status reported crating window was 5/30 thru 6/20.)

I got another email an hour later with the BOL from Old Dominion. Kit will ship on Tues, 5/31, and I should receive it 6-7 days from now!

I received the same email regarding crating but haven't heard from any shippers yet. Thanks for the heads up though. I'm excited for the kit to arrive!
 
you RV10 guys are lucky....nothing to complain about...my RV7 wings and fuse ordered last June due March of this year...wont see crating until september according to the website....plenty of RV 10/12/14 buyers bumped way up the queue. shipping going up?...bitter?...yes a bit.:(
 
you RV10 guys are lucky....nothing to complain about...my RV7 wings and fuse ordered last June due March of this year...wont see crating until september according to the website....plenty of RV 10/12/14 buyers bumped way up the queue. shipping going up?...bitter?...yes a bit.:(

I ordered all kits 7/14/21, the wings and fuse estimated crating dates are Sep 28 2022 - Jan 10 2023.
 
you RV10 guys are lucky....nothing to complain about...my RV7 wings and fuse ordered last June due March of this year...wont see crating until september according to the website....plenty of RV 10/12/14 buyers bumped way up the queue. shipping going up?...bitter?...yes a bit.:(

If you’re talking QB wings/fuse, my -10 timeline is the same as yours.

My emp was supposed to happen by December; I was even asked to pay in Nov. It just got shipped.

I wouldn’t call that either “lucky” or being bumped “up” the queue.
 
If you’re talking QB wings/fuse, my -10 timeline is the same as yours.

My emp was supposed to happen by December; I was even asked to pay in Nov. It just got shipped.

I wouldn’t call that either “lucky” or being bumped “up” the queue.

My lead time was 6 months on the wings and fuse….the 10’s were longer I believe….my lead time gone from 6 months at the time of order to 15 months….are you the same? Nope….standard build….the quick build lead times very long?
 
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My lead time was 6 months on the wings and fuse….the 10’s were longer I believe….my lead time gone from 6 months at the time of order to 15 months….are you the same? Nope….standard build….the quick build lead times very long?

They would not even give an estimate of the lead times when I ordered the wings/fuse. Status now shows crating in Sept-Jan which would put delivery between 15 & 19 months from date of order.

Had I ordered SB wings/fuse, it does sound like they’d be shipped about now, almost a year in.
 
They would not even give an estimate of the lead times when I ordered the wings/fuse. Status now shows crating in Sept-Jan which would put delivery between 15 & 19 months from date of order.

Had I ordered SB wings/fuse, it does sound like they’d be shipped about now, almost a year in.

The quick builds were 1 year plus lead times when I ordered the standard kit. Mine should be 6 months earlier than that. So I should be 6 months ahead of yours minimum but we may see ours about the same time….
 
RV-10 Tail/Empennage Delayed

I ordered my RV-10 tail kit in October '21 with the requisite deposit. Clearly Vans was aware in October of the supply chain issues but their projected delivery was 4 months. At the beginning of March they requested the remainder because they were "making parts and will be crating in April". In April I received an email saying they were "making parts and will begin crating May 30 - i.e. June).

From the posts here, they KNEW in October '21 they were not delivering in 4 months because that was what they had been telling customers in July and in January of this year they were still not delivered.

I am presently waiting (July 2nd) on an update after I was told they were "quite confident" they would be starting crating May 30th. I have not heard anything to date and my wife, who is a retired consumer protection attorney, is beginning to wonder if Vans is having cash flow issues. At the time I reassured her Vans is a reputable and successful company.

Having run my own companies, now I am not so sure.

More to come as this process continues...

Update: Status says Assigned To Crating (6/2/2022). Given other comments here the obvious question is "what is still backordered".
 
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See my comments under vendor review...

I ordered my RV-10 tail kit in October '21 with the requisite deposit. Clearly Vans was aware in October of the supply chain issues but their projected delivery was 4 months. At the beginning of March they requested the remainder because they were "making parts and will be crating in April". In April I received an email saying they were "making parts and will begin crating May 30 - i.e. June).

From the posts here, they KNEW in October '21 they were not delivering in 4 months because that was what they had been telling customers in July and in January of this year they were still not delivered.

I am presently waiting (July 2nd) on an update after I was told they were "quite confident" they would be starting crating May 30th. I have not heard anything to date and my wife, who is a retired consumer protection attorney, is beginning to wonder if Vans is having cash flow issues. At the time I reassured her Vans is a reputable and successful company.

Having run my own companies, now I am not so sure.

More to come as this process continues...

Update: Status says Assigned To Crating (6/2/2022). Given other comments here the obvious question is "what is still backordered".

Only backordered items in my crate that was delivered a week ago today are the two trailing edge wedges used in the rudder and elevators.

Hope you get the crate within a week or two now and get busy building. I’m having fun already, and while anything is possible with regards to business and cash problems, I’m still relatively confident that Vans will deliver and continue to be around for a while!
 
As it turns out, the delay hasn't been a big deal for me as I have been finishing off the workshop which is even now not quite ready but likely will be by the time the crate(s) arrive. I got the important things installed...the bathroom and beer fridge. One of my past careers was in digital video surveillance (development) so I want to complete setting up time lapse in the workshop before starting. That way I could produce a good tutorial (in my spare time). What to do, what not to do :) It's a thought anyway.

I plan to do a lot more riveting practice before I start putting rivets in the airplane anyway so I have some of vans additional kits and scrap. I attended and EAA sheet metal workshop in March I think...very useful for me.

Good luck with your build. Let me know how you go.
 
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I ordered my RV-10 tail kit in October '21 with the requisite deposit. Clearly Vans was aware in October of the supply chain issues but their projected delivery was 4 months. At the beginning of March they requested the remainder because they were "making parts and will be crating in April". In April I received an email saying they were "making parts and will begin crating May 30 - i.e. June).

From the posts here, they KNEW in October '21 they were not delivering in 4 months because that was what they had been telling customers in July and in January of this year they were still not delivered.

I am presently waiting (July 2nd) on an update after I was told they were "quite confident" they would be starting crating May 30th. I have not heard anything to date and my wife, who is a retired consumer protection attorney, is beginning to wonder if Vans is having cash flow issues. At the time I reassured her Vans is a reputable and successful company.

Having run my own companies, now I am not so sure.

More to come as this process continues...

Update: Status says Assigned To Crating (6/2/2022). Given other comments here the obvious question is "what is still backordered".

Supply issues are worldwide. To compound the problem, Vans reported that their orders doubled last year. With all those deposits, I don't think they're hurting for cash.
 
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Supply issues are worldwide. To compound the problem, Vans reported that their orders doubled last year. With all those deposits, I don't think they're hurting for cash.

I would hope not, but one can have liquidity issues when sales exceed expectations and one cannot cope with the expansion. I believe it is unlikely in this instance, but it is not unheard of.
 
Just got notification my kit is being picked up tomorrow. I guess it time to make room in the garage for more crates…… ordered August 2021.
 
If you’re waiting for a wing kit, there is a part that they can’t source and won’t be available now till fall. I am almost done with my wings and made an error when cutting this part and ordered a new one. I ordered it over two months ago and was told each month that it would be available “next month”.

Now it’s September. Extremely frustrating.
 
If you’re waiting for a wing kit, there is a part that they can’t source and won’t be available now till fall. I am almost done with my wings and made an error when cutting this part and ordered a new one. I ordered it over two months ago and was told each month that it would be available “next month”.

Now it’s September. Extremely frustrating.

What part?
 
And which plane? (Your signature says RV-7)

The same post is on another thread indicating its an aileron pushrod tube. Same is backordered for my -10 wing kit that I picked up in April, so it doesn't appear to be impacting shipping dates for those waiting on wing kits.
 
Kit arrived

Finally, the empennage has arrived. About one month short of a year since it was ordered. Haven't opened the crate yet but it appears to have arrived unscathed. The folks at Old Dominion were great to deal with. I'd like to say shipping was cheap, but it wasn't. Inventory next on the list.
 

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Nice looking Boxes

out of curiosity, how long would say is the short (big) box?

I get to pick mine up on the way back from vacation in just over a week.
 
Empennage crate dimensions from Van's

I asked Van's about the crate dimensions for the empennage kit a couple of days ago, and they told me:

The new RV-10 Emp crate dims/weights are:

2 crates:
115”x48”x13” (approx.. 280 lbs)​
137”x7”x4” (approx.. 40 lbs)​
 
I don't know that this spreadsheet is valid anymore as it has only 1 crate for the RV-10 empennage. All current kits seem to be shipping in 2 now.

yeah, that sheet/page is outdated now with the -10 emp in two crates.
My guess is they are saving ~15% on crating materials doing that.
 
Empennage scheduled for delivery this Friday.

So excited. It's finally that time. We ordered in Dec. 2021. 6 months almost to the day.
 
Seems a lot are reporting lead times for other than that of RV-10s (thread topic.) That is perfectly fine, but it would be more helpful if everyone included which model they're talking about.
 
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Assigned to Crating

RV-10 SB Fuse

Ordered circa late February 2022.

I think this means we'll ship in the next 4..6 weeks.

FYI,
Mike
 
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