How scary is gasohol?

Don Tuite wrote:

So what happens if you fill your wings partway with auto gas, add a
bunch of water with a lot of splashing, wait a few minutes and then
drain the sumps until no more water comes out?

Always, always, always, ask yourself "How will this look on the NTSB report?".

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

See here, on page 4...
http://www.eaa.org/education/fuel/autogas_vs_avgas.pdf

Basics, are a tall and relatively thin cylinder, holding perhaps a cup
100ml) of fluid... Make a mark at roughly 10% of the way from the bottom...
Make another mark near the top... Fill with water to lower mark,
accurately... Fill with gas to upper mark, accurately... Put hand now
smelly over the mouth and shake it well... Let stand to settle the water
for a couple of minutes whilst you do other things..
If the water level to the lower mark has now moved upwards you have (had)
alcohol... If the gas level at the upper mark has moved, you goofed - or
the cat has a bad huffing habit......

If nothing has changed, carefully decant pour the good gas back into the
can and throw the water away...
denny

"Jay Honeck" wrote We haven't been testing our
auto gas for alcohol, but I would like to.

http://www.eaa.org/education/fuel/autogas_vs_avgas.pdf

Thanks, Denny. Good stuff there!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Charles Talleyrand" wrote in message ...
My auto-fuel-stc says very clearly that one cannot use gasoline with
any type of alcohol in it. I understand that beyond the reg itself, the
main reason is that fuel lines can swell if they come into contact with
alcohol cutting of the flow of fuel to the engine.

It could swell rubber parts like the lines and the things like the gascolator
gaskets. Alcohol will also pick up water and tends to accellerate corrosion
of aluminum.

"Ron Natalie" wrote in message . ..

"Charles Talleyrand" wrote in message ...
My auto-fuel-stc says very clearly that one cannot use gasoline with
any type of alcohol in it. I understand that beyond the reg itself, the
main reason is that fuel lines can swell if they come into contact with
alcohol cutting of the flow of fuel to the engine.

It could swell rubber parts like the lines and the things like the gascolator
gaskets. Alcohol will also pick up water and tends to accellerate corrosion
of aluminum.


Right. Yes. But how likely is this to actually happen in the
real world?

"Ron Natalie" wrote in message . ..

"Charles Talleyrand" wrote in message ...
My auto-fuel-stc says very clearly that one cannot use gasoline with
any type of alcohol in it. I understand that beyond the reg itself, the
main reason is that fuel lines can swell if they come into contact with
alcohol cutting of the flow of fuel to the engine.

It could swell rubber parts like the lines and the things like the gascolator
gaskets. Alcohol will also pick up water and tends to accellerate corrosion
of aluminum.

Right. I understand the theory.

My question is actually ...

How likely is this to happen in real life? I notice in a thread with 22 articles,
there are a bunch describing how to test for alcohol, a few about
what the FAA/insurance company/mechanic would think, but no
one actually seems to know the real world effects.

One might think that every day someone, somewhere put alcohol into their
plane. Yet you never ever hear of an accident because of this.
Or am I missing something?

-Thanks ..
A guy who will still obey the rules, and doesn't want to test them.

Charles Talleyrand wrote:

How likely is this to happen in real life?

Pretty likely. Happened quite a lot in automobiles when gasahol was first
introduced.

I notice in a thread with 22 articles,
there are a bunch describing how to test for alcohol, a few about
what the FAA/insurance company/mechanic would think, but no
one actually seems to know the real world effects.

In one of those threads, Dennis O'Connor posted a link to an EAA article on
mogas use. That article contains a lengthy section on the problems.

One might think that every day someone, somewhere put alcohol into their
plane. Yet you never ever hear of an accident because of this.

I have, usually fuel pump problems.

Or am I missing something?

I expect so.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

I tested the gasoline I buy for my plane and was pleased to see NO alcohol. I
intend to continue using it (mixed with 100LL) in varying proportions but
basically alternating 15 gallon purchases (I carry 30 gals onboard, although I
can carry 36 but it spills out my overflow on the left wing if I fill to top).
www.Rosspilot.com

In article ,
ospam (Rosspilot) wrote:

I tested the gasoline I buy for my plane and was pleased to see NO alcohol. I
intend to continue using it (mixed with 100LL) in varying proportions but
basically alternating 15 gallon purchases (I carry 30 gals onboard, although I
can carry 36 but it spills out my overflow on the left wing if I fill to
top).
www.Rosspilot.com



Regarding using Mason jars for testing.....

Round here the Mason jars come with "fuel" already in em! (Kinda like
JATO or rocket fuel) I don't know if I'd add any gas to them but a
little water in the form of ice usually makes the sampling process go
smoother. Course by then it's not too safe for you to fly but you
might eat one of them Peanut Butter an Olive sandwitches. After all
that's been said and done you'll have plenty of gas stronger than 100LL
avgas. Plus, we tend to worry about the liver more than the bladders.
All in all, gasohol can be very scarey!
Gene

PS The last thing that you wanna do is talk to the guvmint bout
getting a tax rebate on the fuel in the jars though. Uncle Bubba did
that an he's still away fer awhile, as Mamma calls it.

"Adding alcohol to gasoline dramatically increases the ambient temperature
where ice forms. Evaporating methyl alcohol creates a temperature drop of
300 degrees F. As a result, carburetor ice occurs over a wide range of
temperatures."

Extract from:
http://www.sacskyranch.com/crbice.htm

Nobody seems to have mentioned this. Alcohol is not good in aircraft engines
where there is any chance of it causing the engine to stop!

I'm not keen on having an extra reason for having to change my pants!

Hope this helps,
Peter