My annual was finished yesterday. I removed covers, floorboards, cowling, etc and the mechanic did the rest - except I pulled the round air filter and cleaned it with paint thinner and soap and water. Nothing holds the air filter in except a fairly tight fit. Now for the fun part! Today was the
first flight after annual. Run-up normal including carb heat. Oil temp and pressure normal at all times. After about twenty minutes in and around the pattern strange things began to happen. When I pulled carb heat to throttle back for descent, the enginge rev-ed up considerable. I began to lose power and throttle control was inconsistent. I limped back to the field and by the time I taxiied back to my hanger, I could only get about 1500 RPM static instead of 2050. Investigation showed the air filter falling out of the cowling. I don't know if this accounts for all my problems or not. I believe the carb heat control was pushing the filter around, but I'm not sure yet. Question - what is supposed to hold that air filter in place. I believe this is an old air filter, but I really don't know for sure. I'll have my mechanic look at it, for sure, but does anyone have any thoughts on this? Wayne Hannah N3544H
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