An entire country's Avgas supply killed

455 Bravo Uniform said:
I believe the consequence of offspec fuel conductivity is safety related, allowing static to build up and not dissipate, with increased risk of a spark.
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It's offspect the other way, however, too conductive. They are afraid your fuel gauges will not work properly.
 
flyingron said:
It's offspect the other way, however, too conductive. They are afraid your fuel gauges will not work properly.
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Interesting. I thought it was a lower limit spec, but that’s for diesel. I see now that it’s an upper limit spec. Thanks for correcting my error.
 
Zeldman said:
I tried to read the article, but I could not understand it. Seems I can't read Canadian.....
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It's not that much different from Alaskan from what I heard...
 
Regarding diesel engines, on the JT-A Skyhawk, the 2100 TBO mentioned above is actually a TBR. There's also a midtime gearbox replacement.
 
Continental's 200 series diesels are air-cooled, direct drive and it appears they can be overhauled; TBOs are 2200 hrs (230 hp) to 2400 hrs (265 hp) according to Continental.

It's the smaller, Mercedes auto engine derived motors that are life limited. As long as avgas is readily available at a reasonable cost I can't see these auto-derivatives being economic here. And with the current regulatory push in Europe to severely restrict small diesels in light passenger vehicles, if Mercedes stops making the blocks and bottom end I can't see the aviation market being big enough to maintain production.

Now, if I could install a pair of 250 hp turbo-diesels on the Aztec that would be an interesting proposition. But the engine/prop on one side alone is probably worth three times what the whole plane is as it sits today, and I doubt it would fly any better. ;)
 
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Tantalum said:
What's the biggest obstacle in making our planes unleaded burnable? All politics and conspiracy aside, how hard would it be for Lyco and Conti to build a 360 equivalent that runs on regular 91 or 93 octane gas?
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The main reason to run leaded gas was to lubricate the valves in a motor and reduce knocking. When we went to unleaded Harley started replacing the valve seats with hardened valve seats on the old Ironhead motors. Which most engine manufacturer/part suppliers probably switched to the same hardened valve seats in the 80s anyway.

Looks like the STC for Mogas only involves some paperwork and data plate changes.

http://www.autofuelstc.com/stc_specs.phtml
 
Tantalum said:
What's the biggest obstacle in making our planes unleaded burnable? All politics and conspiracy aside, how hard would it be for Lyco and Conti to build a 360 equivalent that runs on regular 91 or 93 octane gas?...
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If you are referring to mogas ("regular 91 or 93 octane gas"), one of the issues is the variability State by State of mogas.

Unlike avgas, which is exclusively Federally regulated, and therefor must meet a consistent specification everywhere in the country, mogas specifications vary across the country and from season to season. That means variable vapor pressures, ethanol content, and so forth.
 

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GRG55 said:
Unlike avgas, which is exclusively Federally regulated, and therefor must meet a consistent specification everywhere in the country, mogas specifications vary across the country and from season to season. That means variable vapor pressures, ethanol content, and so forth.
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To run Mogas for airplanes, the gas companies would have to leave the ethanol out. I don't think the corn farmers would want to give up their extra money.
 
N659HB said:
E0 is available, though sometimes hard to find. That's what I burn in the Luscombe.
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I'm starting to see more E0 availability. I usually fill up my car with 90 octane E0 from a Shell station not far from my office. Also every marina on Lake Lanier has it as well, and it's the same stuff all year long.

I'm not suggesting we start burning the same thing that cars are running, but rather something that is derived from mogas. Needing something as specialized as a gas leaves us vulnerable.
 
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