Recently an airport commissioner in North Carolina contacted us regarding his commission’s plans to add autogas as a means to lower the cost of flying and increase overall activity at his airport. A large Shell-branded avgas supplier based in his state refused to provide autogas, but he was able to find a local fuel jobber owned by a fellow pilot who was happy to bring 93 AKI ethanol-free fuel to this small airport, even in small quantities of a few thousand gallons.

At this time, the airport’s avgas supplier provided the commissioner with Shell Aviation Bulletin SAB Q109, which originated in the company’s U.K. office in 2009. An article authored by Shell’s Technology Manager for Aviation Fuel, Rob Midgley, starts with the bold headline “Motor Gasoline — The Dangers in Aviation Use.” The airport commissioner recently sent us SAB Q109 and asked us to comment on its accuracy.

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The sad news of the death of Harry Zeisloft reached us this week. As reported by the EAA, “Harry Zeisloft, who was one of EAA’s longest-serving board members and an integral part of EAA’s effort to create the auto fuel Supplemental Type Certificate (STC), passed away Sunday, April 1, in Mesa, Arizona. He was 93.”

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Last month, Lycoming expanded its support for alternative fuels by announcing that it was seeking EASA approval for operation of many of its engines on the unleaded aviation fuel UL91. The company also announced it was planning to approve its new O-233 LSA engine for autogas, a clear response to engines from Rotax, Jabiru, ULPower, HKS, Hirth, AeroVee and others that have been approved for autogas for years.

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Belgian aircraft engine maker ULPower recently announced a new line of FADEC-controlled, autogas-burning six-cylinder engines ranging in output from 140-200 hp.

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Reflecting the increasing demand for lead-free autogas at GA airports, Jernigan Oil of Ahoskie, N.C., announced this week its willingness to deliver 93 AKI autogas to any airport in the states of North Carolina or Virginia.

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Thanks to GAfuels blogger Dean Billing, a map of all the airports that offer lead-free, ethanol-free autogas is now available at this link.

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AirBP and EPIC Aviation, the company who has sold BP’s aviation fuel in the past, have parted ways, according to this press release from AirBP.   “BP’s global aviation fuelling business, Air BP, announced today that it has entered the U.S. general aviation business as a direct fuel supplier to Fixed-Base Operators (FBOs), [Read more...]