Mister Mystery Man
Filing Flight Plan
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- Sep 25, 2011
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Mister Mystery Man
Yeah I know the experts say one year...
http://www.eaa.org/autofuel/autogas/articles/1What is the shelf life of avgas_.pdf
That's the official report. But I've seen aircraft that had set in their hangars for more than five years and they started up and ran fine when taken out of storage.
In winter, I always leave Avgas in my lawn mowers. I run it exclusively in my 2-cycle engines and they never have a gum residue problem. One chainsaw sat for 4 years with no fuel problems using Avgas.
My argument is that all of the tar and resin is refined off so there's nothing to precipitate. It's just super-clean gasoline.
On the other hand the nasty gas (MoGas) is only partially refined, leaving a lot of tar and resin suspended in it. (The reason it stinks so bad)
I've had the overflow on my Stinson to drip onto my suit on my way to a business meeting and I thought, "DANG! Now I'll smell like gasoline!" Not to worry, when the Avgas evaporated there was no odor at all... kinda like when isopropyl alcohol evaporates... it leaves no odor.
So I say that Avgas ought to be good for at least 8-10 years if it doesn't become contaminated with too much moisture or rust. I've never heard of any shelf life problems with the fuel. (?)
http://www.eaa.org/autofuel/autogas/articles/1What is the shelf life of avgas_.pdf
That's the official report. But I've seen aircraft that had set in their hangars for more than five years and they started up and ran fine when taken out of storage.
In winter, I always leave Avgas in my lawn mowers. I run it exclusively in my 2-cycle engines and they never have a gum residue problem. One chainsaw sat for 4 years with no fuel problems using Avgas.
My argument is that all of the tar and resin is refined off so there's nothing to precipitate. It's just super-clean gasoline.
On the other hand the nasty gas (MoGas) is only partially refined, leaving a lot of tar and resin suspended in it. (The reason it stinks so bad)
I've had the overflow on my Stinson to drip onto my suit on my way to a business meeting and I thought, "DANG! Now I'll smell like gasoline!" Not to worry, when the Avgas evaporated there was no odor at all... kinda like when isopropyl alcohol evaporates... it leaves no odor.
So I say that Avgas ought to be good for at least 8-10 years if it doesn't become contaminated with too much moisture or rust. I've never heard of any shelf life problems with the fuel. (?)
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