Ethanol Mandate for Iowa?

Today Rep. Jim Nussle -- potentially the future governor of Iowa -- was
reported as proposing that all gasoline sold in Iowa be required to contain
20% ethanol additive. Presumably, this legislation, if passed, would make
the sale of regular unleaded gasoline illegal in Iowa.

See the story he
http://press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.d...509270309/1079

As those involved in grass-roots aviation know, this would be another nail
in the coffin of General Aviation in Iowa. Without the availability of
regular unleaded gasoline -- a fuel that many have seen as the savior of
General Aviation, since the discontinuation of 80 octane aviation fuel
production -- many would be forced to run 100 octane aviation fuel, because
ethanol-based fuels are not approved for use in aircraft engines.

This would be a disaster for many of us. Small carbureted aircraft engines
were quite simply never designed to run on 100 octane aviation fuel, which
contains far more lead than our engines need, costs 30% to 50% more than
regular unleaded fuel, and causes engine problems for many of us.

Personally, I have run over 6,000 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline
through our airplane, at an average savings of over $1.00 per gallon. I
know dozens of aircraft owners who have done the same -- and I also know
that, for many, losing that savings would be the difference between flying
and not flying. This legislation, if passed, would ground those pilots,
and would effectively put general aviation beyond the means of many current
pilots in Iowa.

Below is a letter I have sent to Rep. Nussle. I urge everyone to send
similar letters to Mr. Nussle, as I don't believe he is aware of the
potentially GA-crippling side-effect of his proposed legislation.

Contact him he http://nussle.house.gov/contact.htm

Thanks for your help -- and blue skies!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Dear Rep. Nussle,

Your recent call for mandating that all gasoline sold in Iowa contain
ethanol.

I understand your position, but there is a negative aspect about your
proposal that you may not be aware of: It could kill grass-roots General
Aviation in the state.

How? Most small airplanes (Pipers, Cessnas, etc.) have carburetors, and
were designed to run on 80 octane aviation fuel. Since 1999 (or so), this
fuel has been unavailable. The oil companies simply stopped making it.

After that, we were forced to start using 100 aviation gas. Unfortunately,
this fuel has 14 times more lead in it than our engines were designed to run
on. As a result, our engines ran rough and spark plugs were badly fouled.
This was a dangerous situation, to say the least.

Luckily, the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association, based in Oshkosh, WI)
stepped up to the plate, and was able (after extensive testing) to get
regular unleaded auto gas approved for use in our planes. No more rough
running engines, no more fouled spark plugs -- and it was MUCH less
expensive to run. In fact, usually the savings ran to over $1 per gallon!
(When you're burning 15 gallons per hour, this is significant.)

Unfortunately, the EAA was NOT able to get the use of ethanol approved in
our aircraft engines. This means that we can ONLY run "pure" unleaded gas.
Use of any ethanol additives is specifically prohibited by the FAA.

Thus, as you can see, if you make regular unleaded gasoline unavailable in
Iowa, you will make it impossible for many of us to fly our small
airplanes -- surely an unintended side effect of your otherwise worthy idea!

Please continue to sponsor legislation that makes ethanol- gasoline cheaper
than regular unleaded gasoline. This, in my opinion, is the very best way
to get EVERYONE to use ethanol. Mandating that regular unleaded be illegal
is simply not the way to do business in Iowa, and I hope I've given you one
good reason why this is true.

Sincerely,

Jay Honeck
Owner/Innkeeper
The Alexis Park Inn & Suites
Iowa City, IA