Height. Over the years aviation oil filters have gotten shorter to help with installation in tight spaces. The dash two filter by Tempest is the shortest of the certified aviation oil filters on the market.

The D A M high temperature anti-seize formula is based on inert high temperature dry lubricants suspended in a naptha carrier with a few other low viscosity additives. The thick grease base in other anti-seize products on the market burn and char at exhaust temperatures leaving sticky hard deposits that actually contribute to the lock-up of exhaust joints. The D A M product carrier evaporates leaving only a film of dry lubricants in the joints that penetrates the pores of the stainless steel. 

The new fully automatic chargers on the market today need to be hooked up to a battery before they will output any voltage. This is primarily a safety feature that prevents spark when hooked up, and protects the charger against reverse polarity hookup. Some chargers need to see as much as 9V volts before they recognize that they are attached to a battery. Once the charger is hooked up, it should output 13.9-14.6 volts. If your charger does not do this, you may want to contact the manufacturer for further troubleshooting tips.

We can only speak for Tempest overhauled pumps as we have no control over the quality of other overhaul shops. Before Tempest®/Aero Accessories, LLC offered an overhauled pump, they spent more than a year in research and testing to determine what was required to produce a quality overhauled pump that would last as long as a new pump producing the vacuum or pressure required for aircraft application. In 1984 Tempest®/Aero Accessories, LLC had its overhaul process specification approved by the FAA and began offering quality overhauled vacuum pumps to general aviation. Tempest takes great pride in their state of the art overhaul facility, and produce the best overhauled pump on the market today. Over the years they have acquired FAA-PMA’s for all component parts of the Dry Air Pumps, and have supplied replacement parts to all overhaulers worldwide.

Since inception in 2009, EarthX has designed their lithium batteries with a micro-processor-controlled battery management system (BMS) to provide safety and performance features for your battery.  EarthX is not new to providing lithium iron phosphate batteries. Over the past 13 years, has become the most trusted and used lithium battery in the experimental aircraft market and by working closely with OEM’s and engine manufacturers a like, this BMS has been developed to be one of the most reliable in the industry. EarthX is not only the exclusive provider for the Indy Race Cars, but EarthX is also the first company in the world and in history to have an FAA TSO certified aircraft battery as a testament to the safety and quality of the batteries.  

Features of the BMS protection:

• Cell balancing
• Low voltage protection
• High voltage protection
• Excessive Cranking Protection (Heat)
• Short circuit protection
• In the Hundred series, an alert LED fault light to communicate an issue on battery itself or can be remotely monitored with a 12V LED
• In the Hundred series, the BMS board is redundant so there is no single point failure

Battery design safety features:

• Proprietary battery case design with recessed terminals to protect from short circuiting
• Clam shell design with terminals down the center so polarity (installation) is never an issue
• Flame retardant plastic housing
• The state of the art ceramic cell separators to reduce the risk of thermal runaway by 400% over standard lithium cell separators.

Performance design features:

• The widest operating temperature range available
• A rated cells that must meet stringent testing requirements
• True industry standards testing specifications

A number of pilots have asked this question. The answer is a definite no. When Shell first started evaluating multigrade aviation piston-engine oils over 25 years ago, testing proved that multigrades formulated only with mineral base oils did not have adequate base oil viscosity (thickness) to properly lubricate all high load points in the engine. Then we tested and flight evaluated a formulation made with all-synthetic base oils.

This formulation had excellent antiwear characteristics in all tests run. However, in the flight evaluations, some engines would reach 600 to 900 hours, then lose oil consumption control and/or compression. When the engines were disassembled, we found that the piston rings were covered with a gray tacky substance that was primarily made up of the lead by-products of combustion (from the use of leaded aviation gasoline).

Although synthetics are excellent lubricants with good high temperature stability and very good low temperature flow characteristics, they are relatively poor solvents.

In an aircraft engine, the lead by-products of combustion must be dissolved by the base oil so they can be carried away from the ring belt area and removed from the engine when the oil is changed. Anticorrosion, antiwear AeroShell Oil W 15W-50 is formulated with 50% synthetic base oils to give it the excellent low temperature flow needed for quick lubrication during cold starting. 

The synthetic base oils, along with the unique antiwear additive system, give it antiwear protection unequaled by any other product on the market. In addition, its mineral base oils provide lead absorbency to guard against ring sticking and excessive sludge. The bottom line: The synthetic component of AeroShell Oil W 15W-50 will not harm your engine. Instead, it gives you the best of both oils.