More on Ethanol-powered planes

[Jay Honeck]

>From Avweb this morning:

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ETHANOL AIRCRAFT READY TO FLY
Among the many intriguing sights at EAA AirVenture last month was an
array of four brightly painted little RV-3s, just off Aeroshell Square,
each with the word "ethanol" on its empennage and tail feathers.
Nearby, a Mooney 201 also sported ethanol livery.

The RV-3 E-Squadron has been flying for 13 years on corn-based ethanol
fuel, and the Mooney is part of the South Dakota Corn Utilization
Council's AGE85 aviation-grade ethanol research project. That project
has been working for 11 years to determine how to burn ethanol fuels in
general-aviation engines, in the event that 100LL becomes unavailable.
As the market shrinks for leaded fuel, the concern is that it will
become harder and harder to get, more expensive, and perhaps go away
altogether.

Currently, there is only one factory that produces the additives needed
in the fuel, and it's in the United Kingdom. Further, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has banned lead from other fuels, and
it could decide at some point to ban 100LL as well.
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I'm glad SOMEONE is taking this threat seriously. Funny how they saw
this thing coming over a decade ago.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Tom Conner]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> >From Avweb this morning:
> Further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has banned
> lead from other fuels, and it could decide at some point to
> ban 100LL as well.
>

I believe that the government has exempted aviation fuel from EPA
jurisdiction and given the FAA control over what fuel is and is not used in
aircraft. EPA can bitch and moan but cannot ban 100LL. However, the market
can decide that the business case for 100LL is not there and decide to stop
manufacturing it, and the FAA has no control over the market.

[Bret Ludwig]

Tom Conner wrote:
> "Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > >From Avweb this morning:
> > Further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has banned
> > lead from other fuels, and it could decide at some point to
> > ban 100LL as well.
> >
>
> I believe that the government has exempted aviation fuel from EPA
> jurisdiction and given the FAA control over what fuel is and is not used in
> aircraft. EPA can bitch and moan but cannot ban 100LL. However, the market
> can decide that the business case for 100LL is not there and decide to stop
> manufacturing it, and the FAA has no control over the market.

The EPA can't fool with racing or aviation fuels. One thing totally
overlooked is that you can buy gasolines with no alcohols and very
controlled aromatics as "race fuel" at prices comaprable to avgas, and
the market is quite a bit larger. In many cases these fuels technically
meet aviation fuel specs. However, I usually never mention it as it
subverts my goal of making aircraft burn commodity fuels.

[Morgans[_3_]]

"Tom Conner" > wrote

> I believe that the government has exempted aviation fuel from EPA
> jurisdiction and given the FAA control over what fuel is and is not used
in
> aircraft. EPA can bitch and moan but cannot ban 100LL. However, the
market
> can decide that the business case for 100LL is not there and decide to
stop
> manufacturing it, and the FAA has no control over the market.

Add to that, that the gubermint can change their mind tomorrow, about
letting lead stay in Avgas.
--
Jim in NC