I have good news and I have bad news.

The good news is that Gail and I are going to go from Grass Valley to
Oshkosh (via Iowa City) next month burning nothing but ethanol-laced
gasahol.

The bad news is that we are going to do it in a Subaru wagon.

Simple math. With the advent of gasahol the only place I can get real
gasoline for the 182 with any degree of confidence is from the Mighty Grape
in IOW. Even then, on-airport "real gasoline" on our route (if AirNav is to
be believed) hovers somewhere between $3.50 and $4 a gallon IF they still
have it. The O-470 was designed back in the days when gasoline was a dime a
gallon and the least costly parameter to worry about. The bottom line is
that fuel costs alone (again using AirNav as a source) for the round trip
GOO-OSH would be $1500.

www.gasbuddy.com shows autogas at $2.98 a gallon (and coming down a few
pennies a week) average on our route and round trip gasoline will run around
$500. Extra time? One day going and one day coming home. I dunno about
y'all, but spending a thousand extra dollars for the privilege of being
thoroughly thrashed by afternoon turbulence isn't clever in my mind.

Yes, I still love the joy and beauty of flight. That sputtering cough as
the engine fires up early on a cool clear morning is one that I'll never get
tired of. But cross country (literally) at 100 knots burning 10 gallons an
hour isn't my cup of tea any more.

Jim


--
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in
a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside,
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, with chocolate in one hand and wine in
the other, loudly proclaiming 'WOO HOO What a Ride!'"
--Unknown