Your bloggers have reported this year on Florida’s ethanol mandates, which took effect in January of this year. As a consequence, Florida’s huge boating and sport aviation communities have suffered from a lack of ethanol-free fuel and all the known negative effects of ethanol blends. It seems that consumers have had enough and are prepared […]
What’s wrong with user fees?
The Oct. 7 issue of General Aviation News included several articles warning against the dire consequences of user fees being proposed by our federal government. In a letter to the editor, Kevin Mossey even made the astounding claim that we “all need to sacrifice” by accepting higher fuel taxes. One can only imagine that he […]
Latest FAA fleet fuel report deeply flawed
In November, the FAA published its latest “Reciprocating Engine Aircraft Fleet Fuel Distribution Report” DOT/FAA/AR-TN11/22. As described in the report’s abstract, “The purpose of the data analysis was to establish a baseline of aviation fuels currently in use by all reciprocating engine-powered aircraft to quantitatively assess the effect of first reducing and, eventually, eliminating the […]
Payette Airport adds autogas
Pilots in west central Idaho and eastern Oregon have cause for celebration: The Payette Municipal Airport (S75) in Payette, Idaho, added 91 AKI ethanol-free, lead-free autogas last month. Currently priced at $4.10, the fuel is more than a dollar less expensive than 100LL, both fuels being sold from the airport’s self-service fuel station. Mary Cordova, […]
‘Washing’ ethanol out of mogas – Part II
Back in November 2010 I wrote a blog about separating ethanol from E10 by a method that is commonly known as “washing.” Looks like pilots don’t get it. There has been an ongoing conversation on backcountrypilot.org about separating ethanol from auto fuel by “washing” it out with water — scroll down to the entry by […]
Can fuel suppliers refuse autogas sales for aviation?
In the past three years, the authors of the GAFuels blog have assisted countless pilots, flight schools, flying clubs, FBOs, airport managers and others in the search for suppliers of ethanol-free autogas. If existing suppliers of the other FAA-approved aviation fuels (avgas and Jet-A) would offer autogas, our help would not be necessary. (Why they […]
U-Fuel releases white paper on self-service fueling
U-Fuel, a manufacturer of fuel equipment for aviation and other markets, has released a white paper (Self-Service Fuel: Airport Money Maker) on the benefits of self-service fueling. The paper covers the historical development of self-service fueling, standard components of a modern system, related topics such as site preparation and installation, safety features, financing, insurance, and […]
Touring the Aero Accessories plant
Despite claims that manufacturing in North Carolina is in a death spiral, aircraft-related production continues to grow at an ever-increasing list of companies, including GE Aviation, GE Honda Aero Engines, HondaJet, Spirit AeroSystems, BE Aerospace, MX Aircraft, Allegro LSA, Twin Commander Aircraft, Atlantic Aero, Preceptor Aircraft, and probably a few others I’m not aware of. […]
89.5 AKI was enough
With the recent announcements from both Lycoming and Continental of new engines capable of running on 94UL and autogas, we wondered why, in both cases, a minimum octane was specified that was significantly higher than that required from autogas STCs for very similar engines that have been used safely by thousands of pilots since the […]