A lot of insightful comments here! We are indeed fighting a lot of inertia, technical issues, and fear of liability here, but the pilot community needs to continue pushing for and demanding a solution. Less than 100 octane is not an option with 70% of the fuel requiring at least that, if not 102 MON. Any unleaded fuel has to meet the stringent requirements set forth by the FAA and OEMs in the PAFI program. This is required to replace 100LL for fleet-wide approval. STCs won’t do it and 94 octane won’t either with only one avgas tank at each airport. If ultra-low lead were acceptable we would have a solution tomorrow, but no-one is ready to throw in the towel, despite the NAS report and suggestion that VLL may be good enough. Not likely for the NGOs who sued the EPA.
As an insider, I can assure you that your associations have your back, the FAA is genuinely interested in finding a solution, and the OEMs just want to insure they won’t be left footing the bill (or face lawsuits). But there are several fuel suppliers still invested in finding a solution. Some you have never heard of. Keep the faith and the pressure. We haven’t given up on you.