Air filters!

Morgan3820

Morgan3820

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El Conquistador
Soon starting my first ever annual. My A/I says to bring among other things, an air filter. So I went to Aircraft spruce and an air filter is $71!

Do you always have to change them? On my cars I usually just blow it out with compressed air.

$71!
 
Welcome or aircraft ownership. A $7 dollar filter...... Remember, if it goes on a plane, you have to move the decimal one place to the right on all parts under $1k. If the gross sale is over $1k, please move that decimal two places to the right.
 
Use a little googlefu NAPA might have the same filter for ten bucks. Yeah no sticker, whatever.
 
Morgan3820 said:
Soon starting my first ever annual. My A/I says to bring among other things, an air filter. So I went to Aircraft spruce and an air filter is $71!

Do you always have to change them? On my cars I usually just blow it out with compressed air.

$71!
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What airplane is this? Brackett makes filters for many light airplanes. Once you buy the filter assembly, it's a rather inexpensive foam replacement element after that.

http://www.brackettaerofilters.com/

They still don't have one for the restart Cessna172s. Don't know why, and the (paper) filter for that one is a Donaldson that costs crazy bucks.

Dan
 
If it's the old style oval filter, Challenger makes an stc'd unit that's reusable. It's a reboxed K&N air filter part # E-1957. It's $55.00 direct from K&N.
 
We put the Challenger air filters on the 310. I didn't notice a performance gain that I could tell, but the fact that they'll last for 2,000 hours sounds good to me. They'll pay for themselves in a few annuals.
 
comanche pilot said:
If it's the old style oval filter, Challenger makes an stc'd unit that's reusable. It's a reboxed K&N air filter part # E-1957. It's $55.00 direct from K&N.
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A reusable at $55 sounds better. If I buy it direct from K&N, how do I get the stc from Challenger? Or am I missing something?
 
Morgan3820 said:
A reusable at $55 sounds better. If I buy it direct from K&N, how do I get the stc from Challenger?
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You pay Challenger the full price for another filter plus the STC. It's cheaper to just bite the bullet and buy it from Challenger in the first place. The alternative is hoping nobody ever notices you have a nonstandard filter without the proper paperwork.

The only good news is you can buy the cleaning/re-oiling kit for automotive prices from your local auto parts store. The kit runs about $25 and will do 5-10 servicings. I do that ever 100 hours, and while it's a bit messy, it's preventive maintenance you can do yourself. It only takes a few minutes to clean and a few more to re-oil, but you have to let the filter air-dry overnight after cleaning before you re-oil and put it back in.

Or am I missing something?
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No, you're not.

As for the standard paper air filters, per FAA AD 84-26-02, 500 hours is the mandatory maximum change interval for all paper air filters in all small airplanes (anything under 12,500 lb MGW). If you have a Brackett foam air filter, 12 months is the mandatory change interval.
 
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I have the Challenger filter on my plane. I bought the cleaning and recharge fluids from Challenger. They are the official FAA approved cleaning fluids. They are also identical to the stuff you get at Autozone, but approved.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
I have the Challenger filter on my plane. I bought the cleaning and recharge fluids from Challenger. They are the official FAA approved cleaning fluids. They are also identical to the stuff you get at Autozone, but approved.
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I'm not sure that the use of cleaning and recharge fluids purchased from AutoZone violates any FAR's any more than using RTV that doesn't say "FAA approved" on the tube.
 
Ron Levy said:
I'm not sure that the use of cleaning and recharge fluids purchased from AutoZone violates any FAR's any more than using RTV that doesn't say "FAA approved" on the tube.
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Ron.....

Are you OK...:dunno::dunno:...;)
 
Ron Levy said:
I'm not sure that the use of cleaning and recharge fluids purchased from AutoZone violates any FAR's any more than using RTV that doesn't say "FAA approved" on the tube.
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Depends on the continued airworthiness instructions in the Challenger STC. I cannot remember what they say. I have the stuff I bought from them with the special sticker on it, so it doesn't really matter to me, yet...

In the real world? No it should not matter which one you use. In the world that we live in as pilots in certified aircraft? Buy the one that the continued airworthiness instructions say you have to use...
 
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