I do not doubt this, but the combined total of Cirrus and Diamond aircraft do not make up even 5% of the piston aircraft fleet. But that is beside the point really. No one advocating for the expanded use of Mogas is calling for an end to 100LL or whatever new, expensive, boutique fuel that may (or may not, it seems) replace it. Fact is, well over 70% of all legacy piston aircraft and nearly all new light aircraft run just fine on Mogas.
This, again, is simply not true.
Review the light aircraft sales numbers. Those Cirrus and Diamonds you are ignoring are the majority of new light plane sales and have been for many years.
In fact, the opposite is true. The majority of new light aircraft being sold in the US today and for the past decade can NOT run on automotive fuel.
Sorry the numbers show something much different.
Big Producer of Small Engines — Rotax Reaches a Major Production Benchmark
"Of particular interest to aviation enthusiasts — More than 175,000 Rotax aircraft engines have been sold since 1973. Of this number, 50,000 were four-stroke engines from the well-known 912/914 series. All Rotax aircraft engines are approved for operation with Ethanol 10, Mogas and Avgas."
Aviation fuel and the 70/30 mantra
New study shows autogas can power 80% of piston aircraft
My company is developing a new light aircraft. We would be out of our minds to use a powerplant reliant on an expensive, boutique fuel such as 100LL or its replacement. Mogas, Jet-A/Diesel, and electric are the only options.
You are improperly conflating the existing fleet with new sales, and quoting Rotax numbers that are majority EU, not North America.
The majority of new certified airplanes sold in the US use engines that cannot use automotive fuel. This is factual, based on the sales numbers of Cirrus SR20/22/T and Diamond DA42 planes.
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I believe we are focused on two different things. You are concerned about the fuel for Cirrus aircraft. Diamonds can be powered with Jet-A if equipped with their Austro engines. I am focused on the entire legacy piston-engine fleet, of which the Cirrus make up a very small percentage. Fact is, all modern aircraft engines are designed to operate on either mogas, or Jet-A/diesel. Rotax, UL Power, Jabiru, the new engine on the SE-1 (the star of Oshkosh 2025), Verner radials, and the recently-anounced aircraft engines from Kawasaki are designed for mogas. Rotax has a six-cylinder, 300hp, mogas-burning prototype engine and will surely have something to replace the engines now used in the Cirrus, but without the need for 100LL or its replacement. But no mogas advocate has ever suggested that it will ever be a replacement for other aviation fuels. When I travel in Europe and visit GA airfields, Mogas is nearly always available alongside 100LL and Jet-A. I do not understand why this is not done in the US, considering 80% or more of all piston-engined aircraft run fine on it.
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