St Louis, MO, June 28, 2006 – Halfway through 2006, Aerospace Filtration Systems, Inc. (AFS) is celebrating record sales, new products, and a recent milestone delivery of its 2000^th Inlet Barrier Filter (IBF) system.

Sales have increased by more than 500 percent since the company was founded in 1999, and today AFS is recognized as the industry leader in the design, development and manufacture of high-performance IBF systems for commercial and military rotorcraft, according to company President Mike Scimone. Since 1999, AFS has designed and military qualified or commercially certified more than 12 new products. Its 2,000^th IBF system was delivered in June to U.S. Army.

“Our results and outlook are excellent, and it’s gratifying to see industry acceptance of high-technology filtration systems,” Scimone said. “We’re meeting a need and helping operators flying different missions around the world.” Scimone expects strong sales to continue into 2007.

Over the past six years, AFS has delivered more than 2,000 IBF systems and 15,000 filter assemblies to military and commercial customers. Military operations in Southeast Asia have contributed to this rapid growth. Sales have included both helicopter main engine IBFs and Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) IBFs. 

Military Highlights

AFS has produced over 1,300 UH-60 Blackhawk APU systems along with significant spare assemblies to support high op-tempo operations. More than 100 AH-64 Apache APU systems and additional spare filters have been delivered to the U.S. Army. CH-47 Chinook APU systems include deliveries of more than 170 systems and spare filters.

UH-60 Blackhawk main engine deliveries to the U.S. Army included more than 390 systems and spares. AFS supported fleet-wide conversions of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior to barrier filters with deliveries of 380 plus systems and spares to support very high op-tempo operations in Iraq. U.S. Army Special Operations Command also executed a fleet-wide upgrade of its AH/MH-6J/M Little Birds with AFS’s MD 500 IBF system.

AFS military systems are available for the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, Bell UH-1H Huey, Bell OH-58A/C, Boeing AH/MH-6J/M Little Bird, Sikorsky UH-60 BLACK HAWK main engine and APU, Boeing AH-64 Apache APU, and Boeing CH-47 Chinook APU.

Commercial Highlights

Commercial IBF demand has also been strong, with more than 100 Bell 407/206L-1/3/4, 100-plus MD 500 systems, 50 Bell 205/210/UH-1 systems, and more than 50 Bell 206B/OH-58 systems produced since 2003. Spare filters and components are consistently maintained in stock to avoid aircraft on ground (AOG) scenarios.

New AFS Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) commercial product deliveries in the second half of 2006 and into 2007 are expected to be strong. Certification is also imminent for AFS filtration systems for the Eurocopter AS350, Agusta A119 and Bell 205/210 helicopters.

AFS currently produces certified commercial filtration systems for the Bell 206B, Bell 407, Bell 206L-3/4, Bell 206L-1/C30 and MD 369 (MD 500H/D/E/F Series).

Factory-direct deliveries of AFS systems continue, with AFS STCs offered as options by Bell Helicopter and MD Helicopters. Long-term deliveries of factory-direct barrier filters incorporated from the Type Certificate (TC) level will maintain strong demand for the new Bell 417 and Bell 429. 

“We’re building our commercial product lines and building momentum in key markets like airborne law enforcement and air medical,” said Jay Foster, AFS Commercial Sales and Marketing manager. “That will only continue to grow as operators realize the benefits barrier filtration systems offer.”

Breakthrough Technology 

Barrier filter technology applied to turbine engine inlets provides a substantial return on investment (ROI) for operators along with needed performance improvements on many platforms.  In most cases turbine engine components are life limited parts, but seldom reach their design life.  A good example is a compressor impellor with a 20,000 hour design life that was regularly replaced at every 2,000 hour overhaul due to erosion damage. With a barrier filter installed this expensive component can now survive multiple overhauls. The ROI for a barrier filter system is easily attained within one engine overhaul cycle even in a relatively clean environment.  Overhaul cost reduction for other bleed air driven components can also be significant with continued use of clean filtered air.  As the operating environment becomes more austere, the savings to the operator are multiplied and barrier filters in many cases are a necessity. The majority of turbine- powered U.S. Army aircraft operating in Iraq and Afghanistan are currently equipped with AFS barrier filters, due to both the high op-tempo mission requirements and the substantial ROI.  Other benefits along with reduced operating and overhaul costs are reduced engine operating temperatures for increased engine life and performance.

AFS systems offer breakthrough technology in many categories, including state-of-the-art materials and introduction of the Donaldson dry filter media in the near future. According to Scimone, the old paradigm of utilizing less-efficient inertial separators for low airflow applications is being replaced with high-performance filters. “AFS technology delivers the best protection with the lowest performance loss, providing the best customer value.”

Barrier filtration systems filter out more than 99 percent of dirt and sand. Barrier filter systems actually enhance engine performance when compared to traditional particle separators, delivering more engine temperature margin (thus more load-carrying capacity), and providing a greater margin of safety.

About Aerospace Filtrations Systems, Inc.

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For more information, contact:

Aerospace Filtration Systems, Inc.
Jay Foster
Sales and Marketing Manager
(636) 300-5050
foster@afsfilters.com