WELLINGTON, KS (Dec 4, 2023) – Air Plains Services, a world leader in General Aviation engine and avionics upgrades, announced today it has gained FAA approval for a new-manufacture Cessna 172 long airbox designed for a variety of stock OEM engines, adding to the range of PMA airboxes it produces for the 180hp 172XP engine upgrade and for various Cessna 180, 182 and 188 aircraft models.
“We’ve been including a new airbox with our 172-180HP engine upgrade package for about 10 years, so it seemed a natural move to develop a similar, improved design for a wider range of 172s that don’t have our upgrade,” said Katie Church, Air Plains president. “Like the other PMA airboxes we produce, we’ve used our years of experience repairing damaged factory airboxes to identify common issues and develope a number of improvements for a stronger unit, at a significantly lower price than the OEM unit.”
Improvements for the new 172 PMA long airboxes produced by Air Plains are similar to those developed for the company’s other PMA airboxes and include the addition of structural adhesive reinforcements in areas of high stress, a hardened control arms with a thicker cross-section, and added nut plates to the front of the airbox to accommodate a Brackett air filter, if installed. One of many improvements also includes an additional two fuel drain holes. This allows fuel drainage from any attitude on the ground, preventing airbox fires when over-primed. The airbox also features structural adhesive reinforcement in the highest stress areas, this distributes the stress between the skins and prevents the common cracking and collar separation issues seen all too often.
The PMA airboxes were also designed with weight in mind beccause we understand that a heavy airbox is a highly stressed airbox. Rather than using heavy materials such as stainless steel to replace lightweight aluminum components we have made intelligent design decisions such as better distributing loads and reinforcing rivited joints with the addition of adhesive. The result of these improvements is an airbox superior to the factory original which will provide many more years of trouble-free service.
The new Air Plains airboxes are PMA replacements for part numbers 0552113-11, 0552113-13 and 0552164-4 on stock engines for Cessna 172I, K, L, M, N and P models and for Reims, France produced 172I, M, N and P models. Air Plains has produced PMA airboxes for its 180hp engine upgrade kit (STC SA4428SW) for 10 years. In early 2020, Air Plains gained PMA to produce replacement airboxes for Cessna 180, 182 and 188 models (part numbers 0750144-1 and 0750144-33). The company also produces PMA airbox replacement accessories such as collars, gaskets and adjustable attachment brackets. Air Plains manufactures and inspects all its parts, including all its airboxes, onsite at the company’s machine shop prior to placing into inventory.
For more information about the new PMA airbox (including model eligibility) or any of Air Plains other products or services, call 1-800-752-8481 or +1-620-326-8904, or visit www.airplains.com. For online shopping, visit the Air Plains web store at https://shopairplains.com.