While the entire general aviation industry supports — and is actively pushing toward — an unleaded fuel, officials with GA’s advocacy groups say they are “deeply concerned with a rash decision” by Santa Clara County in California to ban the sale of 100LL as of Jan. 1, 2022, at Reid-Hillview (KRHV) and San Martin (E16) airports.
“This move will leave piston-engine aircraft at the airports with no fuel option approved for use in the entire piston GA fleet, significantly increasing the risk of aircraft misfuelling,” GA officials say.
In a letter to FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson, the organizations called on the FAA to use its “aviation safety mandate to prohibit individual airports from interrupting the availability of 100LL and stifling the cooperative industry-government effort to safely transition the entire general aviation fleet to unleaded fuels. It is vital to public safety to mitigate misfuelling risks for pilots and passengers, and for the people and property on the ground during this transition.”
The letter reminds the FAA that engine failures from misfuellings often occur at critical phases of flight, such as on takeoff and climb out, and NTSB accident reports document the grim outcomes.
The letter also pointed out that there are already misfuelling risks where visually similar airframes require different types of fuel, such as the Cessna 421 and Cessna 441. Plus there are some piston aircraft models, such as Bonanzas, in which some aircraft have engines that can use unleaded fuel and other aircraft do not.
“Furthermore, piston aircraft with high-compression engines consume 75% of the 100LL sold in the U.S.,” the letter continues. “Many of these engines are not approved to use unleaded fuels currently available in the marketplace. Those that are approved to use a lower-octane unleaded formulation must still obtain a supplemental type certificate (STC) to legally use the fuel. This can create a dilemma and risk to pilots who land at an airport at which only a lower-octane fuel is available than what they require to safely fly.”
“Unlike automobiles, if an aircraft has engine trouble, it cannot simply pull over to the side of the road,” the letter continues. “The automobile industry took time to safely transition to unleaded fuels and was successful, and the aviation industry must do the same.”
The letter was signed by leaders of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Experimental Aircraft Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Helicopter Association International, National Air Transportation Association, and National Business Aviation Association.
I Agree with Robert there will be pilots with jerry cans and step ladders
and every one will fuel their own plane
I can see several suppliers of fuel take your choice
I personally think the only reason they are doing this is to speed up closer of this airport. Think about it. If they can drive down or drive away enough pilots from this airport they can make the case to close it sooner. More pilots leave, more hangars are left unrented the faster they can do what they have wanted. Not wait until 2032 to close. And if anyone thinks the FAA is going to come to the rescue. Well I would say think again. Do we all forget the FAA Motto? “We are not happy until you are unhappy”. The FAA is like the FDA. They help who ever has the most money. They really do not care about GA.
Just my 2 cents.
The FAA and General Aviation have been dragging their collective feet for 40 years “searching” for a magical “drop in replacement” for 100LL. In the mean time, those everyone in aviation (most unwittingly) are suffering through engine top end problems with rapid exhaust valve and valve guide wear thanks to the excessive amount of lead in our fuels. That was forced on us some 50 years ago, but because it was causing gradual rather than rapid failures, nobody in a position of authority seems to care as long as we can provide the right fuel for the high performance aircraft. Many of us have been running auto fuels for much of that time. But MOGAS is difficult to find in many places, is rarely available at the airports, and doesn’t have sufficient octane to support many engines. Additionally there is no guarantee of what you are getting when you buy MOGAS. It is getting fouled with both alcohol and various other chemicals designed to keep fuel injection systems clean, that it often times damages aircraft fuel systems. I noted significant damage in my fuel systems using alcohol free MOGAS that now has a mystery chemical added that seems to dissolve the pipe dope that was applied to the pipe fittings in the fuel systems on my planes.
I’d call the Reid Hillview maneuver doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. There is 94UL fuel, Swift Fuel, and the GAMI 100 fuel coming available. Most GA aircraft can burn any of these fuels. The high performance planes should be able to burn the GAMI 100. But come on people. Let’s get the lead out. Let’s get significantly longer engine life running without adding lead to damage the engines. Let’s stop exposing aircraft engine mechanics to lead salts every time they tear down one of these engines. 40 years of foot dragging is long enough. The solutions are there. Now it’s time to move.
I don’t think airports have to sell gas if they don’t want to aircraft owners or Pilot should know what type of Fuel to put in their plane.