The GAfuels Blog is written by two private pilots: 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.
New England pilots have another reason to be happy this summer. Coming on the heels of news earlier this month regarding Sanford Regional Airport, we just learned that Dexter Regional Airport (1B0) in Dexter, Maine, now offers 91 octane, ethanol-free, lead-free autogas for sale.
The airport’s manager, Roger Nelson, described the new service: “We recently installed a dual-fuel self-service system consisting of two 5,200 gallon tanks for avgas and autogas. All but two of the aircraft based on the airfield use autogas, since it is what our pilots prefer. All of our hangars are now filled, we have a waiting list, and are planning to build more hangars. We are currently selling 91 AKI octane autogas for $4.97 and avgas for $5.95. We expect to pay less for autogas with our next load, which we’re getting from D&C Transportation in Orleans, Vt.”
Roger also stated that the airport will sell ethanol-free autogas to anyone, and has already made significant sales to boaters and landscaping companies for their for lawn equipment. “We had one person describe the $600 expense he had for repairs to his boat’s motor as a result of ethanol in gasoline. Boaters in our area are happy to find a source of ethanol-free fuel at our airport, and we are seeing many new airplanes stopping in for a top-off,” he said.
Our compliments go to the town of Dexter and Nelson for going the extra mile to provide New England pilots with a more affordable, lead-free alternative to avgas. For a complete list of airports offering autogas, see this listing maintained by GAFuels co-author Dean Billing. If your airport is not here, please use the link at the top to add it.