REFLECTOR: Air Filters on IO-550N

Craig and Denise Woolston cdwoolston at sbcglobal.net
Fri May 20 07:52:05 CDT 2011


No biggie on the questions, sorry for the late response, I was out of town
yesterday.

 

Yes, I used whatever Tupperware (for a form) from the kitchen would fit
under the cowl without making it have to be pushed up and was the correct
amount of sq. inches of filter area based on the equations that Bracket Air
Filters recommends.  Then for $25 he custom cut the air filter materials and
now I have my own part number to order from him for the same price.

 

I have 1/8" hole drains in the bottom of each side of the filter.  And I
used a stainless steal mesh to capture the two foam air filters on either
side.  No other mitigations, like alternate air, though.  My theory is the
chance of BOTH becoming clogged is low.  I feel it's on the probability
order of the engine failing for some other reason.  The NACAs really don't
stick up in the wind so anything other than ice I don't think can get in
there.  If there is enough to clog the inlet of the NACA I probably have
more airframe ice then she can handle.  And any ice that makes it down the
throat I feel will be turned to water by the engine heat.  I have cowl
temperature sensor and even on at -15 OAT I have seen 60 degrees in the cowl
area.  I have never flown in ice so it's just a theory at this point.  I
have flown in lots of bugs and never found any evidence in the filters.  I
have replaced the filters twice; you can actually see the silicon content in
the oil analysis go up when they are dirty and drop back down after changing
them.  I have flown in rain and seen no issues.  I have never flown with
them off to see how much pressure I'm losing.

 

Yep, 3" SCAT and aluminum tubing fiber glassed into sides of NACA to give
them something to clamp too.

 

Craig

 

  _____  

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Brooke Wolf
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 7:49 AM
To: reflector at tvbf.org
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Air Filters on IO-550N

 

Very interesting Craig.  It looks like a rather elegant design.  Can I
assume that your filters are in each side of the "breadbox" forward of the
prop spinner?  Is that 3" scat tubing you are using?  Did you design any
unfiltered, alternate air sources to mitigate a clogged filter (ice, dust,
bugs, debris, etc)?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but inquiring minds................

 

Thanks

 

Brooke

 

 


  1. Re:  Air Filters on IO-550N (Craig and Denise Woolston)

From: "Craig and Denise Woolston" <cdwoolston at sbcglobal.net>

Date: May 18, 2011 8:09:23 AM EDT

To: "'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'" <reflector at tvbf.org>

Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Air Filters on IO-550N

Reply-To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>






Found some pictures of air filter and generally the engine plenum area.

 

We are a fixed gear and unfortunately have never been able to keep a nose
pant on.  We typically see 145-150 IAS and 165-170 TAS at 9,500 ft.  The
plane with do 195 TAS wide open at 1000'msl but your drinking 28-30gph; we
did the Osh air race that way for 1.5 hours.

 

Craig

 


  _____  


From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Brooke Wolf
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 7:14 AM
To: reflector at tvbf.org
Subject: REFLECTOR: Air Filters on IO-550N

 

Craig

 

That was good info on your IO-550N install.  My installation is essentially
the same as yours, so I am very interested in your performance.  I am not
flying (YET!), but I would like to know what to expect.  The CHT,  EGT, and
oil info was enlightening.  What kind of IAS and TAS are you getting?

 

The other thing of interest is your air filtration system.  I have been
thinking about that for some time.  Intake air filtration does not seem to
be a priority item here in Sebastian.  In fact I have seen no TCM
installation with it.  I plan on doing a lot of cross country flying with my
machine, so filtering the air might be an idea worth implementing.  Can you
post some pictures?

 

Thanks,

 

Brooke

 

Flying------ Nov 2010, Jan2011,  Mar 2011 at the latest.., oh
well..............

 

 

 

 

 






 

From: "Craig and Denise Woolston" <cdwoolston at sbcglobal.net>

Date: May 17, 2011 8:14:41 AM EDT

To: "'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'" <reflector at tvbf.org>

Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Continental info

Reply-To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>







Don-

 

  We built our plane before pictures were all electronic but I can scan some
in a couple days if you more details.  We are running -N, going on 625 hours
on XL-5FG.  We do not have any cooling air going to the engine mounted
cooler, but we are plumbed to a forward nose mounted cooler.  We too try to
keep our CHTs below 380.  We will occasionally see 400s on a cylinder or two
after climbout on a hot day after a quick turn fuel stop.  Typical flight
shows CHTs from 300 to 360 with 2 typically our hottest.  We typically see
180deg on the oil in the winter and 190-200 in the summer.  We run LOP
exclusively, typically see 12.5 GPH at 9,500 feet and if you believe the
electronics engine analyzer around 75% power.  Besides saving gas we have
seen that ROP increases CHTs 30-60 and oil at least 20 degrees.  We are
based out of Lancaster in California.  Because of all the dirt and dust out
here we did spend the time to build an air intake with inline air filters,
that's probably the only unique thing about our install.

 

Craig

 

 


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<eng_air_filter.JPG><air_filter.JPG>

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Visit the gallery!  tvbf:jamaicangoose

 

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