Fuel News

Engine manufacturers and airframers have long worried that the FAA would like the authority to declare the replacement fuel for 100LL as applicable for fleetwide use. But at Aero in Friedrichshafen, Germany, this week, Lycoming’s Michael Kraft told AVweb that the FAA reauthorization bill currently snaking through Congress has specific language giving the FAA administrator […]

Rutan Lays Hands on the 915 iS I was in the Rotax booth on Tuesday shooting avideo on the new 915 iS when Burt Rutan, towing a small entourage, popped in. He hadn’t heard about the new engine, but when Marc Becker rattled off the specs, Rutan pronounced it the perfect engine for his new […]

While the industry awaits the certified replacement for leaded avgas, Swift Fuels says it’s moving forward with a plan to market an aviation-approved low-octane fuel suitable for a significant portion of the fleet that doesn’t require 100-octane fuel for high-horsepower engines. The fuel is an unleaded 94-motor octane product approved under an aviation spec, according […]

I’ve been doing some work on the Cub so I’ve been driving back and forth to the airport a couple of times a day. Inbound this morning, I was about to duck into a gas station and had second thoughts. The posted price was $2.43. Sure enough, when I drove home-five hours later-it was $2.38. […]

Shells announcement of an unleaded replacement for 100LL last week has drawn lots of attention, deservedly. At this weeks ASTM meeting in Tampa, I spent time buttonholing the worlds fuel experts about what this means for the world of GA. The fuel guys are mostly curious-intensely so-about what formulation Shell has cooked up, but the […]

In early 1945, when it finally looked like the fruit of the Manhattan Project would actually yield a workable weapon, none of his fellow scientists appreciated Enrico Fermis humor in running a betting pool on whether the bomb would ignite the entire atmosphere. Most of the scientists thought it wouldnt, but no one knew. What […]

New Jersey’s Attorney General (AG) and Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) have filed a lawsuit regarding the distribution and sale of 100LL at six gas stations in the state, last December. The suit charges that the avgas was advertised as unleaded auto fuel and sold to customers between Dec. 6 and 8, 2012. According to […]

An Arizona-based company Wednesday said that it plans this year to produce and distribute a 93-octane premium unleaded, ethanol-free fuel as an avgas alternative for aircraft that do not require 100LL. Airworthy AutoGas, LLC, says its “high purity, low vapor pressure” fuel will be available beginning late this year. Bringing the fuel to market will […]

At Aero 2013 in Friedrichshafen this week, fuel has been a leading topic of discussion and if there’s any single word to describe the mood on the industry it’s this: confused. In Europe, many airports have three fuels available — autogas, 100LL and Jet A — and a handful are distributing French refiner Total’s 91UL. […]

A U.S. District Court Wednesday dismissed a suit brought by Friends of the Earth that aimed to push the EPA to decide whether emissions from general aviation aircraft are a threat to public health, but did not dismiss the possibility of further policymaking. The ruling found that the Environmental Protection Agency does have discretion to […]