Aero Advantage’s dual-chamber pump has suffered an unknown number of premature failures on Lycoming O-540s.

Ah, it seemed like such a good idea. Perhaps too good to last. We’re referring to the clever notion that a company called Aero Advantage came up with to combine two vacuum pumps in a single unit, thus providing plenty of suction for instruments and a ready back-up should one fail.

But what has failed is the company itself, which abruptly announced in May that a spate of unexpected disintegrations of pumps on certain Lycoming engines left the company with no choice but to abandon the project and close down the operation. …