Type groups representing owners of high-performance piston aircraft have formed the Green 100 Octane Coalition to raise awareness of issues surrounding the impending demise of 100LL, according to a report on AVweb. Members include the American Bonanza Society, the Malibu Mirage Owners and Pilots Association, the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association and some individuals.
Read the full report here.
Sincerly I have not understood what I should do !
In italy, from few weeks, wse have Green 100 from Tamoil or Shell Vpower.
With my plane PA32 6XT turbo, may I use ?
Thanks
LP
Karl said, “… switching to Automotive Unleaded Premium (91 octanes, non Ethanol: We will call it UL91NE)” You don’t have to call it anything other than what it is, unleaded mogas, made to ASTM D4814. It is already an approved aviation fuel through the STC process, as long as it doesn’t have ethanol in it. It is already on 116 airports, according to AirNav. We just need it on more airports and it needs to be premium unleaded 91 AKI or above because that is what the LSA’s with 100 HP Rotax engines need and everyone else can use it, i.e. the low compression EAA and Petersen STCs which only need 87 AKI.
Matt – Ethanol blended fuel would never be delivered to an airport fueling facility. Ethanol is prohibited by all mogas STCs. While it is true that a few airport mogas facilities have been cut off from a supply of ethanol free gasoline, it is possible for any state to prohibit the blending of ethanol in premium unleaded. It is also possible for the EPA to ban ethanol blending in all premium unleaded with a sweep of their pen, which is what EAA, Peterson, the marine industry and I have asked them to do in response to the E15 waiver.
I wanted to present an idea of how we can start to make the transition to an unleaded fuel. I agree with Dean’s suggestion of switching to Automotive Unleaded Premium (91 octanes, non Ethanol: We will call it UL91NE). There would have to be a transition plan and some changes from engine manufactures and the FAA. There are several assumptions to be made and I know many of the figures stated are hearsay. I have to start somewhere.
If the EPA timeline holds, they hope to switch away from 100LL by 2017. That would give us 7 years to make the transition. If the 30 % of the aircraft which use 70% of the avgas are very high use aircraft (doesn’t include recreational high compression engine aircraft) are looked at. They would accumulate hours very quickly on their engines and since they are commercial aircraft they would have to look at purchasing new engines or rebuilding their engines at TBO. Engine manufactures should look at producing new engines which will run at rated power on UL91NE. They should also make plans to inform A&Ps how to make changes to overhauled 100 Octane engine internally so they will run at previous rated horse power on UL91NE (They still need at this point to use 100LL also). Such engines should be non-FADEC, but FADEC ready incase user want to add it. These engines should also fit in the same foot print to minimize the modifications. Soon these commercial aircraft will be using the new engine configurations with 100LL, at their original horsepower, but will be prepared for a switch in the future. Since the overhaul was going to happen anyway, the change in price would be any extra for different crank & camshafts, pistons, or jugs. I don’t know the entire process to overhaul an engine. This is for the TCM and Lycoming engines. If someone want’s to add an alternate engine, that will be their choice.
Any recreational aircraft with these engines can go through the same modification when it is time to rebuild. If the EPA extends it’s timeline past 7 years (probably will anyway), several of these recreation aircraft will be changed also, using 100LL.
Many years down the line (say past 2020) when the EPA and FAA make the switch to UL91NE, they need to tap the refining process before Ethanol is added. This way, we attach ourselves to a volume fuel with many users. Many aircraft have been switch to engines capable of using UL91NE. The price in today’s dollars is about 2.80 dollars per gallon, as oppose to 4.50 dollars per gallon. This savings can be passed on to all of us, commercial users using the large amounts of avgas, and aircraft rental price (This is for those who want to learn to fly. I know many people who want to learn to fly, until they hear what it cost). This would require some changes with the FAA, EPA, and political process.
“Premium unleaded mogas can fuel that 80% of the fleet that doesn’t need 100 octane fuel. We would finally have tanks on our airports to put it in, and it doesn’t take a special refinery run to make it. It is the most ubiquitous fuel on the planet.”
Most premium gasoline in the US contains ethanol. If an ethanol free premium was mandated, we would be ok, imop. If not, we will keep getting E10 premium and ruined fuel bladders, lines, gaskets and a good chance of vapor lock.
“Turner said the 20 percent represented by high-performance aircraft owners buy 80 percent of the fuel sold in the U.S. …”
This statistic was simply pulled out of thin air. Prove it. It is an outgrowth of the oft repeated 70/30 myth, that nobody is sure where it came from, i.e. 30% of the airplanes burn 70% of the 100 LL and 70% of the airplanes burn 30% of the 100 LL, which they don’t need. GAMA stated at an AirVenture forum last year that it is probably something more like 80% of the GA fleet burns 40+% of the fuel now, but the fact remains, nobody really knows.
” … and if they’re simply relegated to the scrap heap, there will be catastrophic effect on the fuel supply chain as there simply won’t be enough business to sustain the fuel sellers.”
Premium unleaded mogas can fuel that 80% of the fleet that doesn’t need 100 octane fuel. We would finally have tanks on our airports to put it in, and it doesn’t take a special refinery run to make it. It is the most ubiquitous fuel on the planet.