Thanks to Cal Hoffman of the Barnwell Regional Airport (BNL) in Barnwell, S.C., for informing us that the airport has a supply of 93 octane (AKI), ethanol-free, lead-free Mogas on the field. He does not expect any disruptions to the supply in the near future, and suggests that the strong demand for ethanol-free fuel from […]
Opinion
EPA working with ethanol lobby to force E15 fuels
Your bloggers just came across this letter (download here) from the EPA dated Nov. 30, written to the heads of the ethanol lobby (Gen. Wesley Clark and Jeff Broin of Growth Energy), essentially promising to force E15 on us all next year despite widespread opposition. Car companies and hundreds of other companies and organizations affected […]
Support for ethanol in fuels eroding
Two recent articles in the New York Times chronicle eroding public support for ethanol production mandates and its use in vehicle fuels: “A Growing Disaster”, by Russell Harding, 11/28/2009 “US Unlikely to use the Ethanol Congress Ordered”, Matthew Wald, 11/26/2009 The GAfuels Blog is written by three private pilots concerned about the future availability of […]
ATC under fire
A breakdown of the FAA computers Nov. 19 brought severe criticism from members of Congress, FAA unions, and others. For the second time in just more than a year, the air traffic computer system went down and brought about massive delays for airlines, general aviation flights under instrument flight rules, and other actions that require […]
A story we need to share
At the conclusion of October’s Copperstate Fly-In, held at Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ) in Arizona, I attended the annual awards banquet. As luck would have it, I sat at a great table. Seated with me was Chris Christiansen (and his parents), designer/builder of the award-winning Savor, Dave Edwards from Las Vegas, who turned me […]
Another FAA temporary extension needed
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It looks like the FAA will need another temporary extension. After more than two years, the Senate continues to drag its feet in reauthorizing the FAA. Even many members of the Senate are fed up with the way that body is ignoring the needs of the FAA. Led by Sen. John Kerry […]
Edward Bellande: Pioneering pilot
“Air speed record to Los Angeles broken” was a headline in the Oakland (California) Tribune on Jan. 28, 1932. The story reported that a new coastal speed record for tri-motored planes was made on the Oakland-Los Angeles airway when a Transcontinental and Western airplane made the 360-mile hop in 1 hour and 52 minutes. The […]
Mogas – going, going, gone in the Pacific Northwest
Another nail has been driven into the coffin of ethanol free fuel in the Pacific Northwest. Practically all of the gasoline in western Washington and western Oregon comes from four major refineries on the Puget sound north of Seattle. Since Oregon is already a mandatory E10 state due to a state law, we have been […]
Triple Play for FK
SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON LSA are nothing if not diverse. We have all manner of aircraft on our list of 104 approved models. Germany’s FK Lightplanes illustrates diversity through its trio of models: The high-wing Fk9 series (pictured above); biplane Fk-12 (pictured below); and low-wing Fk14. In May, the newest iteration of the Fk9 series […]