Gasahol Update

Well it is not TOTAL BS. I know for a fact that one mogas seller in
Colorado (where I get mine), gets his mogas the way I described. But
you bring up a good point. How does one tell just what you are getting
when you put in mogas or avgas?

Denny wrote:
Jim,
Those recommendations are based on the alcohol being wood alcohol -

No. The EAA states this "Ethanol is often confused with methanol. These two
alcohols have distinctly different characteristics; however, all STC's prohibit
the use of gasoline containing alcohol - either methanol or ethanol." Those
recommendations occur later on that page and apply to either ethanol or methanol.

http://www.eaa.org/education/fuel/oxygenated.html

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

But
you bring up a good point. How does one tell just what you are getting
when you put in mogas or avgas?

If there are no visible contaminants, there is no water evident, and it
smells like gasoline, I run with it -- and unless you have some sort of
a chemical laboratory in your hangar, there's not much else you can do.

Like so many other things in this world, it's really not worth the
effort to worry about.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 31 May 2005 09:09:03 -0700, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

If there are no visible contaminants, there is no water evident, and it
smells like gasoline, I run with it -- and unless you have some sort of
a chemical laboratory in your hangar, there's not much else you can do.

Like so many other things in this world, it's really not worth the
effort to worry about.

Thought there was some kind of easy test you could do by adding water
to a sample of your fuel.

Corky Scott

Jay Honeck wrote:
But
you bring up a good point. How does one tell just what you are getting
when you put in mogas or avgas?


If there are no visible contaminants, there is no water evident, and it
smells like gasoline, I run with it -- and unless you have some sort of
a chemical laboratory in your hangar, there's not much else you can do.

Like so many other things in this world, it's really not worth the
effort to worry about.

Me too. If it smells like it might burn I'll use it.

T o d d P a t t i s t wrote:
Corky Scott wrote:

Thought there was some kind of easy test you could do by adding water
to a sample of your fuel.

There is. Water and gas don't mix. Water and alcohol do.

Run to trash, find empty clear bottle (typically a water
bottle), scratch mark at about 10% point near bottom, fill
with water to that point, add gas, shake, let settle, see if
the water level is higher. If it is, alcohol has moved from
the gas to the water.

Do not spin this aircraft. If the aircraft does enter a spin it will return to earth without further attention on the part of the aeronaut.

(first handbook issued with the Curtis-Wright flyer)

You got that backward, if the alcohol is present the water level will
drop, not rise.

Sport Pilot wrote:

You got that backward, if the alcohol is present the water level will
drop, not rise.

Nope, it will rise. The alchohol which had been mixed with the gas
will now disolve in the water, the water level will rise.

Sport Pilot wrote:

You got that backward, if the alcohol is present the water level will
drop, not rise.

No, he got it exactly right. The alcohol will come out of solution with the
gasoline and mix with the water. The effect is that it appears that the water
level rises.

http://www.eaa.org/education/fuel/knopp_alcohol.html

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

There is. You can get a graduated tube from eaa or make one yourself. You
add water to the lower line, gas to the upper line and shake for 30 seconds.
After the water settles down to the bottom, you check to see if the line is
in the same place. If it's higher, you have alcohol. The EAA tube will tell
you the precentage.

mike regish

"Corky Scott" wrote in message
Thought there was some kind of easy test you could do by adding water
to a sample of your fuel.

Corky Scott

Nope. He got it right. At least according to my test tube.

mike regish

"Sport Pilot" wrote in message
You got that backward, if the alcohol is present the water level will
drop, not rise.