As unleaded avgas makes it to general aviation airports, there’s an increased risk of your airplane getting the wrong fuel.
Addressing that risk early is the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), an association that represents aviation service businesses, such as FBOs. NATA has updated its Safety 1st General Aviation Misfueling Prevention Program, a free, online training resource for pilots, line service professionals, and others involved in aircraft refueling.
“The new training refreshes the original content and addresses new misfueling risks associated with unleaded avgas and the introduction of an additional grade of fuel at airports,” said NATA’s Managing Director of Safety and Training Steve Berry. “We encourage every individual involved throughout the aircraft refueling process to complete the updated training, even those who have already participated in the original program.”
“Putting the wrong grade of fuel into an aircraft is proven to have tragic consequences,” added NATA President and CEO Curt Castagna.
NATA officials say they recognized the need for an industry-wide misfueling prevention resource in 2015, developing the initial program to conform with standards from the Energy Institute and NATA’s Safety 1st Operational Best Practices. Today, more than 13,000 people worldwide have received a certificate for successful completion of the first generation of training.
The free General Aviation Misfueling Prevention Program – along with videos, alerts, fact sheets, templates, operational best practices, and other resources – are available at PreventMisfueling.com.
GAMI reported that they tested some of their G100UL that had sat in a drum in a wearhouse for three years and that it met all of their specs completely. Also tested some fuel that was in an opened drum in Florida for 18 months and that it was perfect.
Kent Misegades is right on! When I started flying in 1964, we had three three and at times four grades of AvGas, with very little explanation, but stern warning what would happen if we ever messed up. It is really a non-issue.
Now what I want is some information concerning the elephant in the room. How long will the new unleaded fuel last sitting in the tank? Right now I can go get most any AvGas burning aircraft that has 100LL in it even if it has sat for several years, and if the fuel is uncontaminated, I can jump in and fly it. Will I still be able to do the same with the new fuel? Seems no one has even asked the question and no one has taken any interest. Now I want to know and some other guys like myself who go retrieve these aircraft is the answer to that single question! If the new unleaded fuel will not pass that test, then I think it is unsafe! What say you?
Since the only approved unleaded high octane fuel (G100UL) is 100% fungible with current 100LL there is zero increase in the risk of miss fueling.
This is just silly nanny-state stuff. Gas up your car and you might have 4-7 different options at the same pump, different AKI octane levels of E10, maybe higher levels of moonshine (ethanol, awful stuff), ethanol-free (real gasoline = mogas), diesel, etc. Yet misfuelling of cars is very, very rare. The average pilot, too, is a whole lot technically smarter than the average car driver. As a 15-year old student pilot and line boy for the former Kentucky Flying Service, Bowman Field, Louisville, KY, I fueled planes with three different grades of leaded AVGAS. We got maybe a 15 minute explanation and then a strict warning what would happen to us if we ever screwed up, so we didn’t screw up.