Central Maine Regional Airport in Norridgewock, Maine, has had another successful summer supplying ethanol-free 91 Octane autogas to the regional fleet. Although our supply has been tenuous, it looks like it is settling into a pattern where we will be able to get the fuel from April to September.
In the fall and winter months, the refinery near Montreal, Quebec, that supplies our fuel changes their process to meet the different fuel demands for cold weather and, for some reason (which we do not know at this point), means that they are not producing the 91 E0.
We just filled our 5,000-gallon tank and that should help us get through some of the time between now and April and we are going to continue to push to see if we can get it year round.
More of the local aviation, marine and rec vehicles were involved this summer than in the past getting supplies from our same source, which is building a critical mass of supply here in Maine so we have seen more momentum swinging to making this a more viable market as well. More info later as it comes up.
Mike Willey, Central Maine Regional Airport, Norridgewock, Maine
The GAfuels Blog is written by two private pilots concerned about the future availability of fuels for piston-engine aircraft: Dean Billing, Sisters, Ore., an expert on autogas and ethanol, and Kent Misegades, Cary, N.C., an aerospace engineer, aviation sales rep for U-Fuel, and president of EAA1114.