My 8 cents:
- This puts fire to the feet of industry to find a solution with a mandated timeline. There’s nothing quite like an existential threat to get folks to take things seriously and put minds to work. When the Soviets were first to put something into orbit, the U.S. really threw everything at the next goal - putting a man on the moon.
- Laws come and go. If absolutely, technically impossible, I would expect extensions or exemptions, while holding the bar high to find a solution.
- There needs to be an ethanol-free mo-gas alternative for the aircraft that can use lesser-octane fuels TODAY. I appreciate the environmental (renewable resource) and economic (supporting mid-western corn farmers) arguments in support of ethanol in vehicle fuel, and my Toyota is very happy with 10% ethanol. However, it absolutely is a safety issue for aviation, so much so that some operators prefer to use 100LL in engines that burn unleaded fuel because of concerns about the effects of ethanol in their fuel systems and engines. This has an environmental impact for which there is there is a very simple solution that involves reaching back into the recent past (Premium, ethanol-free gas).
- The ROTAX 912 is a nice 80 or 100hp package that prefers unleaded fuel. Avgas availability is an issue outside of North America. Even Canada had a shortage of avgas recently. Piston engine manufacturers should start thinking towards mo-gas compatible or diesel (jet-A burning) engines.