Firstly, as I read it as long as you're not international the engine is normally drop-shipped from Lycoming to you, or you can pick it up from Lycoming. (Maybe you're in Canada, which likely still means you could pick it up at Lycoming).
Secondly, I feel the news this weekend has been generally good, or at least we've finally heard something that we've needed to hear for a long time. Thank you, Van's.
But I, too, would worry about sending the balance some time before the engine was ready to ship. The 'held in trust' account, or whatever it's called, is really no protection at all if Van's has access to the funds at any time. While paying Lycoming directly as you suggest would work, the real solution is a real escrow arrangement where a 3rd party keeps the balance of the funds and disperses them to Lycoming (and to Van's for their portion) when all the parties are ready to complete the transaction.
We all know this is true.
Greg, can you and Lycoming make THAT, an escrow arrangement, an option please? Think of the level of confidence and security it would give your customers (us). I would be happy to pay fees to an escrow company for the protection it would provide.