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JDelamarter(at)lycoming.t
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 Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:50 am Post subject: Lycoming Thunderbolt Engines |
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To All:
I am new to the Matronics email list and would like to introduce myself. My
name is Jon A. Delamarter. I hold an A&P license and a degree in aircraft
maintenance from Spartan School of Aeronautics (Tulsa, OK). I have been
married for more than my adult life (since 19) and have the world's most
wonderful wife and the 4 most beautiful and intelligent daughters that God
ever created. (My dog's pretty smart too.) I have about 50 hours of dual
in my logbook but have not soloed due to a disagreement between me and Uncle
Sam regarding my medical. As a certified airplane freak and airport bum, I
might just hold some sort of record for "Most Types Flown Before Solo." I
am particularly proud of the fact that I have T-6 aerobatic instruction on
the first page of my logbook! My professional aviation career began upon
graduation from Spartan on December 17, 1999. In the short 6½ years since,
I have enjoyed an unbelievably rewarding life. With the blessings of loving
family support, an excellent education, and an absolute dedication to
excellence, I have experienced career satisfaction and growth that I could
not have imagined. If you love this business, it will be good to you! If
you don't love it, get out. If I have learned one thing thus far, it is
this: It's always about the people! I have no idea how many of you will
read this email, but I want you to know something. You aviation folks are
my family. I am proud and humbled to be part of you.
Having said all that, and at the risk of sounding crassly commercial, I'd
love to tell you folks about what I'm doing now. As of February 1st of this
year, it has been my privilege to serve as manager of Lycoming's brand-new
experimental hot-rod shop, Thunderbolt Engines. As you know, the absence of
Lycoming's direct participation in the past has not prevented the dominance
of our brand in the experimental market. We owe this not only to those
designers who build their aircraft around our engine, but also and perhaps
even more so, to the inherent reliability and simplicity of our engines.
The bottom line is that, although many of you are willing to experiment with
different aircraft designs and construction techniques, few have the desire
to step away from the known quantity of a Lycoming engine.
In recognition of this fact, Lycoming began a journey down a new road last
year with the introduction of the kit program. This program is responsible
for the influx of new experimental Lycoming based engines being sold by 6
shops across the country. With this move, Lycoming formally acknowledged
the credibility of the custom engine for the common man.
On April 5th of this year, at Sun-'n-Fun in Lakeland, FL, Lycoming made
public the next step in its journey by unveiling Thunderbolt Engines.
Thunderbolt Engines exists to provide homebuilders, race pilots, and
competition aerobatic pilots with a factory engineered, factory built,
factory supported, factory guaranteed custom engine. In the brief span of
time since the announcement, we have been pleased to learn that the first
reaction from most of our customers upon learning about Thunderbolt Engines
is shock followed immediately by excitement. The most common comments have
been something like, "I'm so glad you guys are finally doing this. I've
been waiting a long time and really didn't expect it to happen." After
recovering from their initial surprise, many builders have eagerly shared
their ideas and concepts for customizing our engines. There are a
significant number of builders who are willing to pay a fair price for a
factory experimental engine. This core group understands the importance of
supporting the customization process with proper and adequate engineering,
quality, assembly, and testing protocol. Thunderbolt Engines is housed in
the ATC (Advanced Technology Center) here at Lycoming. The ATC is still
under development and will eventually consist of four build cells, static
display areas, an aircraft integration laboratory, a customer/employee
training facility, and offices. Once completed, the ATC will be available
to you for tours and training. We are currently operational and are
delivering engines. The intent is to construct a state-of-the-art facility
that will demonstrate our commitment to CDTA, Customer Driven Technological
Advancement. In plain English, we are creating, through the ATC, a
knowledge pool. We encourage you to challenge us with your requests and
ideas. We are discovering that many of our customers know a lot about our
product. Through our involvement in the kit program, we have developed
relationships with individuals and companies that have successfully and
responsibly modified our engines for many years. Through our customer
satisfaction surveys, we are gaining accurate, real-time Voice of the
Customer (VOC) data. We have gained experience and customer exposure
through our support of Reno racing and competition aerobatics. In addition,
Lycoming has made significant additions to its engineering staff. These
folks come from various backgrounds and bring fresh perspective and skills
to the table. By leveraging the data gathered from all these resources,
(customers, kit shops, customer surveys, racing/aerobatics, engineering,
etc.), we are building the knowledge pool. This data not only accelerates
our development technically, it also allows us to focus on developing those
products that best fulfill the needs of the customer.
The development of a Thunderbolt engine begins and ends with the Voice of
the Customer. Many builders call us requesting pricing for a specific
engine. While we certainly provide that information, we also attempt to
glean as much information as possible regarding specific aircraft
application and desired performance. From that data, we are frequently able
to provide the builder with several options, some of which they may not have
known existed. Through this process, we accomplish two things. First, we
match the builder with a custom solution that best accomplishes their stated
goal. Secondly, and equally important, we demonstrate our commitment to the
customer's best interests, rather than pushing a particular product. Our
customers have expressed a great deal of satisfaction with this process and
have been quick to differentiate us from the competition in this regard.
Thunderbolt Engines are currently segregated into three series: Signature,
Extreme, and Competition. A Thunderbolt Signature Series Engine is
differentiated from a certified, production engine in several ways. Like
all Thunderbolt Engines, Signature Series engines are constructed in
dedicated build cells by two man teams. In addition to being team built,
Signature engines are internally balanced and will be configured to the
customer's exact specifications. Items that may be customized range from
major configuration changes such as crankcase or crankshaft to fuel systems,
ignition systems, sumps, induction components, and turbocharging. Customers
will also choose from appearance options such as engine color(s), chrome,
etc. Billet aluminum components such as the prototype rocker covers
displayed at Sun-'n-Fun are in development but not yet online.
Representative of this series would be the engine built last year for Mike
Melville, the world's first civilian astronaut. This engine was an
O-360-A4M configured for updraft cooling and incorporating an experimental
Ellison fuel system. Mike operates this engine in a Long-EZ. Thunderbolt
Signature Series engines will receive a 2-year warranty. This is a real
warranty with real value.
Thunderbolt Extreme Series engines incorporate all the features of the
Signature Series and continue to the next level in terms of performance
upgrades. These items may consist of mildly increased compression ratio or
boost levels, or other yet to be defined upgrades. Thunderbolt Extreme
Series engines will receive a reduced warranty, due to the expected types of
operational dynamics.
Thunderbolt Competition Series engines incorporate all the features of the
Signature and Extreme Series and continue to the maximum level of
performance. These upgrades may consist of dramatically increased
compression ratio or boost levels, water injection, and/or other yet to be
defined upgrades. Representative of this group would be the engines built
for Jon Sharp's Nemesis NXT and Mike Jones' Glasair III. Also
representative of this group would be the engine we just shipped to Extra
for the new Mike Goulian airplane. This engine is an AEIO-580-L1B5 with
very special cylinders, pistons, and sparkplugs. Once fully broken in, we
are expecting 340-350 hp (at) 2700 RPM and 11:1 compression. Walter Extra
reports unbelievable climb from an extremely smooth-running engine.
Competition Series engines will be limited to highly experienced pilots and
will require a signed agreement from the customer limiting his right to sell
or change ownership of the engine. Any such change would require Lycoming's
approval. The purpose of this constraint is to prevent the sale of a 340hp
AEIO-580 to a 40hr. Cessna driver! These engines are all out performance
machines, have no representation of reliability, and carry no warranty.
Okay, enough for the blurb. Let's get down to brass tacks. At not quite 32
years of age, I am smart enough to know that I'm still wet behind the ears!
I do not pretend to know everything there is to know about aircraft engines.
However, I absolutely believe in Lycoming Engines and stand ready to support
you in any way possible. I am here to serve as the conduit between you, the
builder, and the full support of Lycoming's able staff of engineers,
technicians, and support personnel. I want you to know that I share your
enthusiasm for our sport and that I hope for the opportunity to speak to
each of you. I will be at Arlington, Oshkosh, and Reno. Please drop by or
contact me with your questions and ideas. I will make every attempt to
answer your inquiry personally and in a timely fashion.
Sincerely,
Jon A. Delamarter
Thunderbolt Manager
Lycoming Engines
(570)327-7115
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Pat Hatch
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Vero Beach, FL
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| Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:32 pm Post subject: Re: Lycoming Thunderbolt Engines |
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Welcome Jon, can you tell us yet who the 6 shops are? And will one of your outlets be Bart LaLonde in Canada? Will Thunderbird sell directly to customers or through the 6 shops you mentioned?
Great move on Lycoming's part. Thanks.
Pat Hatch
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RV-6
RV-7
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JDelamarter(at)lycoming.t
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:33 am Post subject: Lycoming Thunderbolt Engines |
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Pat:
The kit shops are: Barrett Precision Engines, Mattituck, Kendra Airparts,
Aerosport Power, Penn-Yan, and G&N. I am not aware of any plans to add any
additional shops. In regard to your other question, Thunderbolt Engines
will sell directly to the homebuilder. The real kicker to Thunderbolt that
I hope everyone will understand is that we are offering unprecedented access
to Lycoming's capabilities. We work directly with you, the builder, to
design and build an engine which precisely meets your requirements. This
frequently means that we start with an off-the-shelf engine and add, remove,
and modify until we have achieved the desired results. This process closely
mirrors the methodology we use to develop engines for certified aircraft
manufacturers. For the first time ever, this level of service is available
to the individual homebuilder. In addition, the engine is backed by a real
warranty and Lycoming's legendary reliability and service. You have no idea
how much fun we're having with this program!
Best Regards,
Jon A. Delamarter
Thunderbolt Manager
Lycoming Engines
(570)327-7115
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rvbuilder(at)sausen.net
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:30 pm Post subject: Lycoming Thunderbolt Engines |
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"In addition, the engine is backed by a real warranty and Lycoming's
legendary reliability and service."
This would be the same legendary reliability and service that shafted
(pun intended) so many people with bad cranks and a rash of AD's lately
and then passed the costs onto the customers?
Btw, some instruction on list etiquette is in order I guess. For
non-important items (such as posting a 10 page advertisement from
Lycoming) and other stuff that people probably won't care about in a
year, please put "do not archive" in the email somewhere so it doesn't
pop up in searches forever.
Michael Sausen
RV-10 #352 Working on Fuselage (and yes, I will be using a Lycoming)
Do Not Archive
--
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JDelamarter(at)lycoming.t
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:30 am Post subject: Lycoming Thunderbolt Engines |
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Michael:
First, my apologies for inadvertently archiving my initial post. I'm still
learning how Matronics works. With regard to your comments about crankshaft
Service Bulletins and ADs, I will comment on this list only once. While all
of us have struggled the last several years with crankshaft issues, I think
you would agree that these issues have not changed the fact that Lycoming
continues to build the best aircraft engines in the world, bar none. The
latest SBs resulted from careful consideration on the part of Lycoming with
regard to the long-term benefit and satisfaction of our customers. While we
understand the extreme frustration of all you folks impacted by these
issues, we have made what we believe to be the prudent choice. Going
forward, we have taken extreme measures to strengthen our quality system and
oversight of our suppliers. We have been the best in the business for over
75 years. We are absolutely committed to our customers, our product, and
to continuous improvement. We would welcome you to visit our factory and
see for yourself how these commitments are played out everyday.
Respectfully,
Jon A. Delamarter
Thunderbolt Manager
Textron Lycoming
NOTICE: This E-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521, is confidential and may
be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are
hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying
of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender
that you have received the message in error, then delete it. Thank you.
| | - The Matronics RV-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV-List |
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chaztuna(at)adelphia.net
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:28 am Post subject: Lycoming Thunderbolt Engines |
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Jon
Spare me the hype about Lycoming's long and
glorious history of great products. Those great
products of the past were built and assembled by
workers in your Pennsylvania plant. It seems that
ever since the "bean counters" at Lycoming
decided to out source the product, that they've
had problems. The problems have all been with
items produced by these vendors. Thanks but no
thanks. I'll be doing business with your competitors.
Charlie Kuss
do not archive
| Quote: |
<JDelamarter(at)lycoming.textron.com>
Michael:
First, my apologies for inadvertently archiving my initial post. I'm still
learning how Matronics works. With regard to your comments about crankshaft
Service Bulletins and ADs, I will comment on this list only once. While all
of us have struggled the last several years with crankshaft issues, I think
you would agree that these issues have not changed the fact that Lycoming
continues to build the best aircraft engines in the world, bar none. The
latest SBs resulted from careful consideration on the part of Lycoming with
regard to the long-term benefit and satisfaction of our customers. While we
understand the extreme frustration of all you folks impacted by these
issues, we have made what we believe to be the prudent choice. Going
forward, we have taken extreme measures to strengthen our quality system and
oversight of our suppliers. We have been the best in the business for over
75 years. We are absolutely committed to our customers, our product, and
to continuous improvement. We would welcome you to visit our factory and
see for yourself how these commitments are played out everyday.
Respectfully,
Jon A. Delamarter
Thunderbolt Manager
Textron Lycoming
NOTICE: This E-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521, is confidential and may
be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are
hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying
of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender
that you have received the message in error, then delete it. Thank you.
|
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http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV-List |
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pbesing(at)yahoo.com
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:58 am Post subject: Lycoming Thunderbolt Engines |
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Ouch..Looks like Lycosaur's have some making up to
do...for this program to be successful, they better be
OUTSTANDING engines, service, delivery, etc.
Lots of bad blood running around about Lycoming,
especially with many more engine choices now.
One thing that would make this engine program work is
to make a FADEC a viable and cost effective option. I
ran into a guy who had the FADEC system and it is
amazing. IO-360 burning 7 GPH. No mixture knob..just
push the throttle in and go, no matter how high/hot
you are!
Paul Besing
RV-4 Arizona
(Still flying behind a Lycoming, although using oil
and fouling plugs)
--- Charlie Kuss <chaztuna(at)adelphia.net> wrote:
| Quote: |
<chaztuna(at)adelphia.net>
Jon
Spare me the hype about Lycoming's long and
glorious history of great products. Those great
products of the past were built and assembled by
workers in your Pennsylvania plant. It seems that
ever since the "bean counters" at Lycoming
decided to out source the product, that they've
had problems. The problems have all been with
items produced by these vendors. Thanks but no
thanks. I'll be doing business with your
competitors.
Charlie Kuss
do not archive
>
><JDelamarter(at)lycoming.textron.com>
>
>Michael:
>
>First, my apologies for inadvertently archiving my
initial post. I'm still
>learning how Matronics works. With regard to your
comments about crankshaft
>Service Bulletins and ADs, I will comment on this
list only once. While all
>of us have struggled the last several years with
crankshaft issues, I think
>you would agree that these issues have not changed
the fact that Lycoming
>continues to build the best aircraft engines in the
world, bar none. The
>latest SBs resulted from careful consideration on
the part of Lycoming with
>regard to the long-term benefit and satisfaction of
our customers. While we
>understand the extreme frustration of all you folks
impacted by these
>issues, we have made what we believe to be the
prudent choice. Going
>forward, we have taken extreme measures to
strengthen our quality system and
>oversight of our suppliers. We have been the best
in the business for over
>75 years. We are absolutely committed to our
customers, our product, and
>to continuous improvement. We would welcome you to
visit our factory and
>see for yourself how these commitments are played
out everyday.
>
>Respectfully,
>
>Jon A. Delamarter
>Thunderbolt Manager
>Textron Lycoming
>
>NOTICE: This E-mail (including attachments) is
covered by the Electronic
>Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§
2510-2521, is confidential and may
>be legally privileged. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are
>hereby notified that any retention, dissemination,
distribution, or copying
>of this communication is strictly prohibited.
Please reply to the sender
>that you have received the message in error, then
delete it. Thank you.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
browse
Subscriptions page,
FAQ,
Admin.
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__________________________________________________
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Gary.A.Sobek
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 217
Location: SoCAL USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:29 pm Post subject: Lycoming Thunderbolt Engines |
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Jon:
Welcome to the world of Amateur Built Aircraft.
Thank you for archiving your resume. If you would not have, I would have so
that all could have it for future reference.
I would like to think that you are at the right place. According to the web
site of Van's Aircraft, http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/powerpla.htm our
models of aircraft were designed around your engines and are the only
recommended engines by the designer. Many on this list do not recognize
that the many "clones" of your engines are exacty that, "clones". The
latest pistion engine that has been certificated, is made from aftermark
replacement parts for your engines.
BTW. I am flying behind one of your engines that left the factory in 1961.
It was field rebuilt 9 years ago to new specs. It has over 5,000 hours
since it left the factory. As you can see by the hours, I am about ready to
rebuilt it again or purchase a 180 HP replacement. Your XIO-360-M1B RT now
gives me another option and one which I will consider. Your compeditors
version of the engine is more money than yours and you are the STANDARD by
which all the others are measured.
Welcome aboard.
Gary A. Sobek
"My Sanity" RV-6 N157GS O-320 Hartzell,
1,869 + Flying Hours So. CA, USA
EAA TC
FAA A&P
DAR
http://www.rvdar.com
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