Scandair contends with the challenges of flying three H125 helicopters in exceptionally fine dust on a daily basis and relies on Inlet Barrier Filters (IBFs) from Donaldson Aerospace & Defense, a division of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI) to protect its fleet’s engines.

Flying a range of missions, including spreading lime, ash and forest fertilizer, Scandair has operated with Donaldson IBFs for five years, but had initially installed a competitive particle separator on a dual hydraulic H125 (AS350B3e) because Donaldson did not have an EASA-certified option at that time.

Scandair Founder and Flight Operations Commander Fredrik Ulander said the competitive product “might work for snow and big particles of dust, but for our type of operation it was completely useless. It did not fulfill our expectations at all,” he said.  “After only 150 hours the engine power checks went from +2.9% and “good” to -0.5 and “bad.” We removed the engine cowling and performed power checks without any filter and we got “good” again. We sold the machine after only 350 hours, because we didn’t dare continue flying with that filter.”

Donaldson IBF systems keep dirt, dust, salt, snow and foreign objects, from degrading the performance and reliability of helicopter engines, thereby helping operators extend engine life and reduce program operating costs. Donaldson offers nine EASA-certified filters for Airbus, Bell, Leonardo and MD helicopters.

Ulander concludes, “We have flown with other engine filters, but the Donaldson filter is the very best. It plays in a different league.”

A range of Donaldson IBFs will be on display in booth E100 during Helitech International 2017, Oct. 3-5, 2017, in London. Visitors to Helitech may see IBFs for H125, MD500, R66 and H160 helicopters and speak with company representatives about their filtration needs.