In my Nov. 23 column, “”What effect does ethanol have on airplanes?”", I tried to answer the question of what to do if you end up accidentally getting some auto gas that contains ethanol in your airplane. I had intended this to be information for people who tried to use non-ethanol containing auto gas, but unintentionally got fuel with ethanol.
Oregon legislature compromises GA safety with new ethanol law
December 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment
I believe it was Mark Twain who once said that nothing is safe when the legislature is in session.
What effect does ethanol have on airplanes?
November 23, 2007 by 1 Comment
“”What is the effect of having mixed 10% ethanol with avgas and/or ethanol-free mogas on two or three occasions?”" asks reader Ken Rice. “”The place where I bought ethanol-free mogas lied to us about the change to 10% ethanol. I only found out about it when I asked the tanker driver.”"
Understanding octane
November 9, 2007 by Leave a Comment
The most interesting and least understood part of a fuel’s properties is the octane quality or number.
The difference between 100/130 and 100LL
October 19, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Some readers, including Noel Dennis, were confused when I made the statement in a recent column that 100LL is actually 100/130 (The definition of insanity: Finding a solution for 100LL requires looking at the facts, Sept. 7 issue).
There are no simple answers to complex problems: And no magic pill for unleaded avgas
September 21, 2007 by Leave a Comment
In my last column I berated the author of a letter to the editor about a simple solution to the unleaded fuel crisis (The definition of insanity, Sept. 7 issue).
The definition of insanity: Finding a solution for 100LL requires looking at the facts
September 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment
In the Aug. 10 issue of GANews there was a letter to the editor in response to my article on unleaded avgas and the insanity of developing a marketable product (Unleaded avgas: You’d have to be insane to try to develop it, June 6 issue). The letter stated “”What’s to develop? Leave out the lead and 100LL automatically becomes 95UL. Since virtually the entire GA fleet is already technically capable of running on 93-octane car gas, why would that be insane?”"
Can I use an SAE 60 oil?
August 24, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Dan Mooney, who has several round engine aircraft and a Skybolt with a Lycoming IO360A1B engine, has a question: Can he use oil from a drum of Phillips 25W-60 that he has for his round engines in his Skybolt? He concludes with, “”It gets pretty hot around Tulsa, Okla., in the summer.”"
The positives of unleaded gas
July 6, 2007 by Leave a Comment
In my last column, Unleaded avgas: You’d have to be insane to try to develop it (June 22 issue), I discussed the downside to the proposed lead phase out for aircraft piston engine fuels. But, like most things in life, there’s also a positive side to the issue.
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