Like many I was surprised and somewhat dismayed when the FAA EAGLE program was announced. I came to see that, as Baker, Bunce and Pelton all said, a primary goal of EAGLE was to establish a firm deadline that was far enough into the future to provide a transition period to a new fuel. I don’t think that was the only motivation for EAGLE, but perhaps EAGLE at least serves this purpose (and can save a whole lot of taxpayer money by scaling back on other goals, although as you write some unknown may arise that requires we have a backup).
Question: AVfuel is cited as not only distributing but also supplying (i.e., manufacturing) the fuel. There’s nothing about actually producing fuel on the AVfuel website. Is it more correct to say that AVfuel has agreed (with GAMI) to negotiate with fuels manufacturers to produce G100UL?
Like you, Paul, my biggest concern is the ability to move from an entrepreneurial design/certification mentality to a full-scale business production/distribution capability–and if it can happen quickly enough to avoid more widespread fuel availability issues in California and elsewhere.
Thanks as always, for your insights, Paul.