During a coordinating and status call with Lycoming, Rotorcorp recently learned that lead times for new orders of critical engines and cylinders for the R22 and R44 fleet are getting worse — not better. The Georgia-based supplier of parts, overhaul kits, engines, and components for Robinson helicopters were told that customers should now account for a 24 month wait for all new orders, a 41% increase in production lead time over the last guidance they received of 12-14 months.

Rotorcorp is thus leveraging their market strength and resources to lessen the pain both in planning and budgeting for this engine sourcing dilemma.

In late 2023, when hints of issues affecting engine production lead times were circulating, Rotorcorp initiated discussions with Lycoming to secure engine production slots and to make these available to their Robinson customers. The company now owns 26 factory exchange engine (O-540 and IO-540) production slots with published delivery dates from as early as April 2024 through June 2025 and more on the way.

These committed engine positions provide the opportunity for their customers to reserve a slot in proximity to their anticipated maintenance date. A small refundable deposit locks-in the specific engine and delivery time while preserving critical operating cash. Effectively, Rotorcorp stand in the engine line while operators maintain their budgetting intact until the engine is closer to delivery. Moreover, if the operator has a 2200/2400 hour overhaul that is driving their engine requirement, this program allows the delivery of an airframe overhaul kit with the delivery of an engine to be synchronised

Let’s all hope Lycoming leadership gets things turned around soon and we start to see evidence with meaningful and consistent lead time reductions.