Challenger Parts and Maintenance

Challenger Intro

With a heritage dating back to the very first business jet, Bombardier has at its core a forward-looking, innovative spirit embodied by its people and the aircraft they have manufactured, sold, and supported for more than 50 years.

Keeping a Challenger flying depends on maintaining all of its interconnected systems. We specialize in Challenger landing gear, hydraulics, and wheel & brake systems, each with its own parts, wear points, and maintenance intervals.

At Aircraft Accessories International (AAI), we work on Challenger aircraft components every day as an FAA and EASA Part 145 repair station. This guide walks through the Challenger models AAI supports and what owners, mechanics, and fleet operators should know about maintaining each of the core systems our team specializes in.

Challenger Landing Gear Compliance Requirements

Challenger landing gear runs on one of two interval schedules depending on model. Challenger 600 and 601 aircraft are due a 60-month detailed inspection, then a 120-month restoration on a recurring basis. Challenger 300 series aircraft and later 600-series models (300, 350, 604, 605, 650) are due a 96-month detailed inspection, then a 192-month restoration, with restoration recurring every 96 months after that.

A detailed inspection is a targeted check with minor disassembly that focuses on high-load areas and known corrosion points, catching early wear before it escalates. Restoration goes significantly deeper: the gear is completely disassembled, stripped to bare metal as required, and put through visual, dimensional, and non-destructive inspection before repairs, reassembly, and functional testing. AAI often performs the landing gear scope in parallel with a broader airframe inspection, so the overall maintenance window stays as short as possible.

Challenger Landing Gear Inspections

Corrosion is the most common issue across Challenger gear, particularly on chrome-plated surfaces, axle journals, and around bushings and bores where moisture intrusion adds up over time. Minor corrosion can often be blended out; deeper corrosion typically requires stripping and re-chroming, followed by plating, anodizing, and paint.

Worn bushings and bores are another frequent finding, addressed with an oversized bushing when the maintenance manual allows it, or an engineered, FAA-approved repair when it doesn't.

Cracking or damage in high-load areas is a serious concern and often isn't visible to the naked eye, which is why AAI relies on non-destructive testing (Magnetic Particle Inspection for components like bolts, pins, and axles, and Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection for housings, brackets, and bushings) on more than 100 individual subcomponents during a typical overhaul.

Landing Gear Repair Services

AAI targets about 30 days in-house for a 96-month detailed inspection or a 192-month restoration, with an inspection report typically ready within 5-7 days of the gear's arrival so operators can make quick decisions.

When OEM maintenance instructions don't fully cover a condition, AAI's team engages engineering and the FAA to develop a certified repair that preserves airworthiness and, when feasible, saves the part rather than replacing it.

Before gear is returned to service, AAI completes functional testing including oleo compression and leak checks, swing tests, pivot and attach-point movement, and proximity switch verification, followed by final quality checks and an airworthiness certificate.

Challenger Wheel and Brake Parts and Services

Tires and wheels on Challenger aircraft see tread wear, sidewall cracking, and bead damage from repeated high-speed landings. Brakes are subject to heat stress, rotor and disc wear, and hydraulic seal fatigue. Brake assemblies and wheel assemblies are both parts AAI overhauls and exchanges for Challenger aircraft.

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More Wheel and Brake Content Coming Soon!

Stay tuned. We'll be producing future videos and articles about brake wear indicators, wheel assembly inspection intervals, and AAI's repair-or-replace process.

Challenger Hydraulic Parts and Services

Most Challenger landing gear extension, retraction, steering, and braking runs on hydraulics. Hydraulic lines and fittings are prone to chafing, leaks, and corrosion over time.

Hydraulic components AAI services on Challenger aircraft include shock struts, retract actuators, side stay actuators, and steering actuators.

More Hydraulic Part Content Coming Soon