Poll: What’s Your Current Attitude Toward Unleaded Avgas?
4 COMMENTS
The loss of leaded AVGAS is viewed as a 1%ers problem and not likely to get much public support. It seems a very few people are dictating the course of 100UL for everyone.
It has become the “Poster boy” for the ineptitude of government.
.Government wants 100LL gone–because of a few high-profile protests in California. .Barring any government specs, GAMI develops its own version, and gets it approved. .Government can’t get off the dime between the “need for an STC”–“ASTM approval”–or a blanket approval. .In the meantime, petroleum refiners and distributors don’t know which horse to back–owners don’t know whether they need to buy an STC–and FBOs aren’t sure whether there will EVER be a smooth changeover to the “new” product, as there was with the change from 100/130 to 100LL. .If there has EVER been a case of the GOVERNMENT INABILITY TO DEAL WITH AN ISSUE, this is a perfect example.
LEAD–FOLLOW–OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!
Long Beach Airport adds new fuel option as it tries to stop planes from spewing lead pollution:
General aviation aircraft at Long Beach Airport can now gas up with unleaded fuel—a greener alternative to what has been a lead-spewing standard that, for decades, has raised health concerns among experts and nearby residents.
The change, which applies to all non-commercial planes, doesn’t mean they’ll have to use the new fuel. They can still fill up on leaded gas, but the new option is in line with a national initiative called EAGLE (Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions) that the Federal Aviation Administration is spearheading to end the use of leaded fuels by 2030.
“Long Beach has done this in advance of that process,” Curt Castagna, president of the Long Beach Airport Association and president and CEO of the National Air Transportation Association, said in an interview Monday.
“They’re taking progressive steps, and other airports in California are doing that, but you don’t see it throughout the United States because they don’t necessarily share the same environmental concerns that we have here,” Castagna added. Lori Shepler believes the issue could be life or death for her 6-year-old daughter, who attends Carver Elementary with her twin brother just blocks away from the airport and directly under the flight path for the airport’s smallest runway.
“She’s a cancer survivor, and cancer survivors are more prone to respiratory issues,” Shepler said of her daughter, whose treatment included the removal of one of her kidneys. “The issue of these lead emissions is concerning for my children and for all children in America.”
The California Department of Public Health notes that there is “no known safe level of childhood lead exposure” and that parents living near general aviation airports should have children tested for lead. Signature Flight Support, the leading fixed-base operator at Long Beach Airport, coordinated with Swift Fuels to bring the unleaded product, called UL94, to Long Beach. The fuel is compatible with 60% to 70% of the piston-powered aircraft that operate at the airfield, according to a July 14 city memo.
“Long Beach Airport will continue to work with industry partners to identify opportunities to incentivize a safe and speedy transition toward the eventual elimination of leaded aviation fuel, in keeping with the goals set by the Federal Aviation Administration,” airport Director Cynthia Guidry said in an email.
In September, General Aviation Modifications, Inc., received FAA approval of its G100 unleaded fuel. The company previously stated it planned for the fuel to be available in California in the second half of this year, followed by a nationwide rollout next year.
The GAMI website states its G100UL is available now subject to availability. Castagna explained that FAA testing of a fuel’s engine compatibility is separate from industrywide testing of the various other aircraft components involved. That testing, he said, is ongoing and, along with production and distribution limitations, is keeping the fuel off the market for the time being.
“It’s complicated,” Castagna said.
“Available now subject to availability” describes nearly everything, I suppose.
The loss of leaded AVGAS is viewed as a 1%ers problem and not likely to get much public support. It seems a very few people are dictating the course of 100UL for everyone.
It has become the “Poster boy” for the ineptitude of government.
.Government wants 100LL gone–because of a few high-profile protests in California.
.Barring any government specs, GAMI develops its own version, and gets it approved.
.Government can’t get off the dime between the “need for an STC”–“ASTM approval”–or a blanket approval.
.In the meantime, petroleum refiners and distributors don’t know which horse to back–owners don’t know whether they need to buy an STC–and FBOs aren’t sure whether there will EVER be a smooth changeover to the “new” product, as there was with the change from 100/130 to 100LL.
.If there has EVER been a case of the GOVERNMENT INABILITY TO DEAL WITH AN ISSUE, this is a perfect example.
LEAD–FOLLOW–OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!
Long Beach Airport adds new fuel option as it tries to stop planes from spewing lead pollution:
General aviation aircraft at Long Beach Airport can now gas up with unleaded fuel—a greener alternative to what has been a lead-spewing standard that, for decades, has raised health concerns among experts and nearby residents.
The change, which applies to all non-commercial planes, doesn’t mean they’ll have to use the new fuel. They can still fill up on leaded gas, but the new option is in line with a national initiative called EAGLE (Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions) that the Federal Aviation Administration is spearheading to end the use of leaded fuels by 2030.
“Long Beach has done this in advance of that process,” Curt Castagna, president of the Long Beach Airport Association and president and CEO of the National Air Transportation Association, said in an interview Monday.
“They’re taking progressive steps, and other airports in California are doing that, but you don’t see it throughout the United States because they don’t necessarily share the same environmental concerns that we have here,” Castagna added.
Lori Shepler believes the issue could be life or death for her 6-year-old daughter, who attends Carver Elementary with her twin brother just blocks away from the airport and directly under the flight path for the airport’s smallest runway.
“She’s a cancer survivor, and cancer survivors are more prone to respiratory issues,” Shepler said of her daughter, whose treatment included the removal of one of her kidneys. “The issue of these lead emissions is concerning for my children and for all children in America.”
The California Department of Public Health notes that there is “no known safe level of childhood lead exposure” and that parents living near general aviation airports should have children tested for lead.
Signature Flight Support, the leading fixed-base operator at Long Beach Airport, coordinated with Swift Fuels to bring the unleaded product, called UL94, to Long Beach. The fuel is compatible with 60% to 70% of the piston-powered aircraft that operate at the airfield, according to a July 14 city memo.
“Long Beach Airport will continue to work with industry partners to identify opportunities to incentivize a safe and speedy transition toward the eventual elimination of leaded aviation fuel, in keeping with the goals set by the Federal Aviation Administration,” airport Director Cynthia Guidry said in an email.
In September, General Aviation Modifications, Inc., received FAA approval of its G100 unleaded fuel. The company previously stated it planned for the fuel to be available in California in the second half of this year, followed by a nationwide rollout next year.
The GAMI website states its G100UL is available now subject to availability. Castagna explained that FAA testing of a fuel’s engine compatibility is separate from industrywide testing of the various other aircraft components involved. That testing, he said, is ongoing and, along with production and distribution limitations, is keeping the fuel off the market for the time being.
“It’s complicated,” Castagna said.
“Available now subject to availability” describes nearly everything, I suppose.