Hope you check out the page from TBO Advisor I uploaded in the miscellaneous photo albums. I remember even,odd days to buy gas in 1973 when still in highschool. Also remember an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch about a guy in Detroit making ethanol from garbage for his Harley during that time. I always thought he had the right idea in being self suffient instead of being at the mercy of the oil companies. That is also when Dr. Max Shauck at Baylor Univ. started working with ethanol to power his Pitts. He even flew to Europe fueled by ethanol to prove a point. Ethanol is getting to the point that feedstocks from anywhere in the country can be used so it is not a corn or wheat only thing. A lot of the negative info you're being told is put out by the same people that want to sell $4 gasoline.

Marty

Anyway you look at it fuel is going to be expensive. Since ethanol is only being produced as an additive to regular auto gas, I don't see any drastic drops in pricing.

Just mounted a 150 gallon tank in the back of one of our pickups $225.00 added an electric pump with filter for another $100.00. With 100LL around $3.90 a gallon and 87 octane mogas @ $2.45 figure it will take 6 aircraft fill ups, or about three weeks for the outfit to pay for itself.

Run mogas today for the first time in a long time and she didn't miss a lick. Couldn't tell any difference.

http://www.age85.org/ContactUs.htm

Click the research item on the left. Then click technical briefing.

Supercubber wrote:Anyway you look at it fuel is going to be expensive. Since ethanol is only being produced as an additive to regular auto gas, I don't see any drastic drops in pricing.

Just mounted a 150 gallon tank in the back of one of our pickups $225.00 added an electric pump with filter for another $100.00. With 100LL around $3.90 a gallon and 87 octane mogas @ $2.45 figure it will take 6 aircraft fill ups, or about three weeks for the outfit to pay for itself.

Run mogas today for the first time in a long time and she didn't miss a lick. Couldn't tell any difference.

Hey, supercubber: are you burning ethanol-free auto gas? Here in Minnesota, only 91 octane is available without ethanol. It's strictly for use in classic and antique autos or for off-road. I'm sorely tempted to just use regular 87-octane mo-gas even if it has 10% ethanol. A C-90 is very low compression, my tanks are aluminum, I have a delrin needle valve, etc. Who cares about vapor pressure in a gravity system?

Today, regular is $2.79 and the 91 non-oxygenated runs 20-25 cents more. 100LL is $2.95 at at least two nearby airports. I'm not going to carry my gas in cans when av-gas is the same price. It smells better, too.

Jon

The 88 octane I use has been tested and is ethanol free. If you buy at one of the mini/quick marts they are all almost certain to have ethanol in their fuels.

Service stations are limited on fuel mixes on a state by state basis. Some states don't care what they supply while others are pretty strict. At the present time my state could care less about ethanol as an additive.

There are test kits on the market you can buy or you can make your own.

Also, there is a good article in this months Popular Mechanics on bio fuels.

Your avgas will show the increase when they restock. There is always a larger turnover in auto fuel than smaller airports selling 100LL, that's why you see the lag in 100LL prices. You can count on a big increase in 100LL soon.

I looked into this a few years ago and found out that the additives are put in by the retailers. If a group could buy from the distributor it would be possible to get mogas without any additives. The problem is that some states require the additives and a waiver would be needed for aviation. Also wholesalers won't sell small amounts. The quotes I got were for a minimum of 5000 gallons. The problem with large amounts is that mogas doesn't age as well as avgas so you need to use it quickly. Even an FBO would have a hard time with that amount.

If I'm not mistaken, I think there is a Federal law still in place that requires any alcohol additives in auto fuel be posted on the pump.