Originally published at: Final Unleaded Plan Answers Some Questions, But Puts Off Others
The revised plan is clearer about several important points, but many of the decisions still await testing and a second plan.
Fuel truck swap-outs seem to me the best way to guarantee the availability of 100UL. Aviation fuel distributors usually have some kind of program for FBOs that can’t afford a fuel farm of their own where they fill a fuel truck at the distribution facility and drive it to the FBO to sell. When the truck is empty, the distributor drives another full truck to the FBO and drives the empty truck back. The FBO is on the hook for lease, maintenance and insurance of the fuel truck, which are much less expensive than a separate fuel tank and pump in a fuel farm. As we near 2030 and 100LL threatens to become unavailable, I can see a FBO selling all of the 100LL fuel in the fuel farm tank while they also sell 100UL from the leased fuel truck. Of the 3 100UL candidate fuels (Swift, GAMI, VP Racing-Lyondell) Swift seems the best poised to make 100R available to the widest network of FBOs the soonest but they are going to have to drop the STC requirement. GAMI’s G100UL needs to go through the ASTM process and be available without a STC as well. G100UL has some bad press about damaging seals in older aircraft fuel systems that will have to be dealt with before it stands a chance of being widely distributed and purchased. VP Racing’s 100UL is still in testing and isn’t broadly available in the USA. So far the FAA hasn’t provided any funding to airports for adding 100UL fuel to their fuel farms. That would seem to be an important tool to accelerate the adoption of unleaded AVGAS. The FAA’s hands are tied on using the Airport Improvement Fund (AIP) to provide grants to airports that want to add 100UL fuel to the available fuels because of the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 that limits what AIP can address. Congress could help out here if they wanted to by introducing new legislation that expands AIP to cover 100UL fuel availability.
I saw the Swift rep at EAA Airventure and asked if they would have their fuel available sometime before we were all flying electric aircraft.
Trump had a “Concept of a plan” to replace Obama Care. I think that the FAA is also following Trump‘s lead and has also developed a “concept of a plan” which will probably be as successful as Trump‘s concept of a plan. Who thought something could be so complicated was Trump’s thoughts about his plan.
The Europeans have a plan and it has slowly reduced the amount of Lead being introduced to the environment by a significant amount.
The USA plan which includes mandating 100LL but not much else has so far produced little reductions in lead contamination to the environment.
This topic was automatically closed after 7 days. New replies are no longer allowed.