A couple of years ago I created a website to sell aviation-related items that publicize flying on unleaded auto fuel, or mogas as we call it. One bumper sticker that I created has proven to be prescient, “What You Going To Do When the TEL Runs Out?” That date may be rapidly approaching.
Your blogger briefly mentioned the engines on display at AERO Friedrichshafen 2012 in a previous report on April 22. With Europe’s largest general aviation show now two weeks past, I thought it was time to provide a few more details. With the previous two shows having focused great attention on electric propulsion, AERO organizers wisely chose 2012 to showcase advances in piston and turbine engines, and there was a great deal to see indeed.
One of the most picturesque flying routes down the eastern U.S. coast is over North Carolina’s spectacular Outer Banks. Pilots making the trip now have an even greater reason to overfly the northern end of the Banks since the Currituck County Regional Airport added lead-free, ethanol free autogas last month.
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.
Your blogger is attending the AERO Friedrichshafen show in sunny southern Germany. Among the hundreds of exhibits are many new aircraft engines, some with names like Continental and Lycoming most Americans would recognize, but others that are relatively unknown in the U.S. While a full report will have to wait until next week, one thing is very clear: Europeans have already accepted a lead-free aviation future.
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.”
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.
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.
In almost every article about the future of leaded avgas, this statement appears, “… only one fuel will be stocked by the FBO system.” This particular quote comes from a reply by Mac McClellen to Todd Petersen in Mac’s latest Left Seat blog on the EAA’s website. You will also find it in almost every article and editorial from any aviation alphabet organization about the modern state of 100LL avgas.
My question is why are FBO’s the sole determinant of fuel sales on an airport? The answer is because of an obsolete view of what an FBO should do.
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.
The General Aviation Airport Coalition has initiated a petition on the White House website that, if signed by 25,000 people or more by May 16, 2012, will elicit...
Air Racers 3D, the first IMAX movie devoted to the Reno Air Races, is rolling out across the country at select IMAX theaters, including the Naval Aviation Mus...
Really? Are there only 3,035 general aviators out there who are against paying a $100 per flight user fee? Click here to sign the petition. If you’re not a...
This May 2010 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn fro...
This May 2010 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn fro...
