In the latest good news to reach sport aviators in the Southeast, the Mountain Empire Airport (MKJ), located in a lovely mountain valley in western Virginia, has added 93 AKI ethanol-free, lead-free autogas. The popular and energetic manager of the airport, Charlie Hoffnagle, described the change: “We have an all-new airport commission that has made […]
Continental’s IO-360-AF alternative fuel engine
At last week’s AOPA Aviation Summit, Continental Motors impressed many with the announcement of its IO-360-AF engine, an 180-hp powerplant that is a lower-compression ratio version of the company’s IO-360-ES engine. According to John Dorman, director of business development for Flight Design, whose new four-seat C4 aircraft will use the engine, the ability of the […]
Another summer with E0 autogas
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, […]
ExxonMobil departs general aviation
ExxonMobil quietly announced its departure from general aviation sales of 100LL and Jet-A in July. According to this AIN Online article, the company will end sales of the fuels to general aviation and dissolve its Avitat FBO network. As documented in this GAfuels article, 100LL sales have been dropping by some 4% annually for years, […]
North Carolina builders restore Stits Skycoupe
When Tom Hall, a member of our EAA chapter, called me this spring with the news that his friend wanted to donate a Stits Skycoupe project, my first reaction was “Sure!” My second reaction was “what’s a Stits Skycoupe?” Since then, we’ve learned that the SA-7D Skycoupe was one of 15 designs from Ray Stits, […]
The mythical E10 mandate
Many people misunderstand what the country in general — and their state in particular — is required to do about ethanol in auto gasoline. First, let’s look at the BIG picture: There is no federal mandatory E10 law. Many people believe that there is, but it is not true. There are only six states with […]
Avgas production lower than reported
While searching for recent usage stats for auto gas and ethanol production I stumbled across this table in the EIA data. I had never seen this table before when analyzing avgas stats. What an eye opener! The first thing that struck me as odd is that there is no avgas produced in PADD 1, which […]
Waseca Municipal Airport adds autogas
Maynard Stensrud, long-time owner of Stensrud Aviation and manager of the Waseca Municipal Airport (ACQ) in Waseca, Minn., reports that ethanol-free autogas is now available at his airport. “We support quite a few pipeline patrol aircraft, and they save a great deal of money by burning autogas. At this time, 87 AKI ethanol-free autogas is […]
Texas governor calls for ethanol waivers
In a clear sign of the continued erosion of support nationally for the ethanol mandates contained in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA 2007), Texas Governor Rick Perry (a former USAF C-130 pilot) has called on the EPA to issue waivers to states, according to this recent article in AGWEEK. Adding to the […]