US precision aerospace manufacturing company Aerometals has announced the award of an FAA STC for the Sikorsky H-60 helicopter engine inlet barrier filter (EIBF) following a comprehensive testing programme. Based on the original S-92 EIBF developed by Aerometals, the company now offers a significantly improved system to protect H-60 and S-70 turbine engines from erosion, FOD damage, fouling and corrosion. Aircraft operating offshore or in salt laden environments can benefit from a 96.8 per cent airborne salt nuclei separation protection efficiency.

The exhaustive testing and validation protocol involved the latest computational fluid dynamics modelling as well as bird strike analysis for improved safety and protection. The benefits of the Aerometals EIBF over legacy systems include 50-pound weight savings, no impact to ram air cooling, no airspeed correction charts, no parasitic drag and a fuel burn improvement of up to 40 pounds per hour. Constructed of metallic and Kevlar components, the result is negligible OML excursion and none of the pitot tube interference experienced with legacy systems for the H-60 airframe. The H-60 STC is also applicable to the S-70 airframe with no performance penalty and on demand cleaning interval and overall lifetime of up to 4,500 hours.

Speaking from the Aerometals headquarters, company president and CEO, Lorie Symon comments: “Aerometals is proud of this significant achievement of offering a new generation engine protection system for H-60 operators. We would also like to thank the City of San Diego Fire/Rescue Department and its flight professionals for their continuing support.”

Based in a suburb of Sacramento, California, Aerometals' headquarters include a 150,000 sq ft manufacturing and production campus with over 160 skilled employees. Aerometals is a civil, commercial and military aerospace manufacturer offering PMA parts and components, engineering, testing, precision assembly, obsolescence recovery and support.