One of the positive aspects of dealing with aviation fuels is that concerns are politically bi-partisan among pilots, the media and even among elected officials. A recent example of this is an article on leaded aviation fuel written by Sarah Zhang, a contributing writer for Mother Jones, a magazine that describes itself as “a news […]
GAfuels
Aviation fuel and the 70/30 mantra
Over the past few years, a debate has raged over the best way to reduce our dependence on avgas in North America, one of the last places on the planet where leaded fuels remain in use. There are two “camps” of thought. The first one, consisting of the leaders of most aviation alphabet groups (with […]
Predictions: Aviation fuel in 2013
Early January is a time to review what transpired in the past year and make plans for the coming one. Fuel being consistently named by aircraft owners as their number one concern, it’s appropriate to review trends in recent years and make some predictions for 2013. The U.S. Energy Information Administration provides a wealth of […]
E95 adds mogas
Ron Wiener, a Cessna 182 owner from Tucson, recently reported to us that the Benson Municipal Airport (E95) in southeastern Arizona now has 88.5 AKI mogas for sale. This was confirmed in a phone call with Roy Jones, manager of the FBO there, Southwestern Aviation. Not only is Benson the first airport to offer mogas […]
What fuel does Santa burn?
As Christmas approaches, we wondered what fuel Santa Claus will be using this year? With the average price of avgas having risen from $1.81 in December 2008 to nearly $6 in December 2012, the nice folks up on the North Pole must be thinking about alternatives, just as many pilots are these days. The image […]
GAFuels: Pure-Gas soars through 6,000, ethanol production drops
The Christmas shopping season provides us with clear evidence that consumers prefer choices, and businesses respond accordingly. Recent news shows that fuel sales are no different. In the past few days, the number of retail sellers of ethanol-free gasoline listed at the popular website Pure-Gas.org has soared past the 6,000 mark. The number of airports […]
Aviation fuel problems — they do happen
How often are we told that aviation fuels are superior to other fuels as they must meet one common, exacting worldwide standard, are produced with more stringent controls, are transported, stored, filtered and dispensed from dedicated equipment? Given these tough requirements, one would expect contamination or misfueling to be near impossible, yet it does happen. Here […]
NY SavOn stores go ethanol-free
Consumers in upstate New York received good news this week that ethanol-free fuel is now available in a few more locations. According to this article in Convenience Store News, the SavOn chain of C-stores in the Oneida area now offers E0: “At SavOn, we are always looking for ways to meet the needs of our […]
Mogas OK, but avgas hard to get to Havana
As reported recently, the Havana Regional Airport (9I0, Havana, Ill.), located 31 nm SW of Peoria, offers lead-free, ethanol-free mogas from a 24/7 self-service pump. When pilot Michael Gallagher stopped by recently to top-off his RANS S7S, the pump was out of order. Ken Smith, a spokesman for the airport, quickly responded that the problems […]