Anybody know more about this? Very interesting concept!

http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All- ... c_sect=osh

It will be very interesting to see how much they derate the motor when on natural gas. CNG has reduced power and very limited range for the size of the tank. LNG and propane would be much better solutions.
KenW

As Understand it, cng has a rating of 130 octane, so until the engine is built to run on cng, kind of a waste, tho it sure is cheaper!!

[quote]Using CNG as a fuel in an engine which also uses gasoline does not change the basic thermal efficiency of the engine. Compression ratios of spark ignited engines can be increased in engines that only use natural gas because CNG fuel has a very high octane rating of approximately 130.[quote]

I saw it yesterday and natural is 137 octane thus they raised the compression ratio to 10 to 1. The natural tank holds the equivalent of 9.2 gallons of gasoline. I'm thinking ethanol would work really well with the 10 to 1. They figured natural at 85 cents a gallon of gasoline. They also figure most people don't fly more than a hour and a half.

There is also a 3 burner stove and oven option on the rear seat. I love fresh biscuits during a flight!

Here is a link and what I read in the window of the plane at Oshkosh. Make sure you scroll down to read it all.

http://www.aviataircraft.com/cng/

They're getting the storage figured out so I bet it's coming http://www.livescience.com/1420-tanks-natural-gas-practical-cars.html. A turbo would be fun on cng. They're flying an Airbus on it, probably liquid storage. I've already got the pump installed in my hangar to run my vehicles, if I could run my plane on 30 cent fuel, I'd fly more.

Interesting experiment I guess, but not much in the way of practicality. Energy density, when you consider the 95 lb. weight of the composite tank to hold just 9 gallons (gasoline equivalent) is positively dismal. Sure, there is economy of scale with a larger tank, but it won’t approach the range or duration of gasoline. Like electrics, at this point anyway, it may work okay in the training environment where most flights are short. But unless it’s dual fuel like this dog, it ain’t going anywhere. And all that added weight takes a huge bite out of the dog’s innate back country prowess.

Nope . . . not ready for prime time, and I doubt CNG will ever fill the bill . . . unless you want to fly while sitting on a veritable bomb. While composite tanks, like full carbon wrap or Kevlar, are light and strong, they do not handle impacts well when compared to the heavier aluminum or steel tanks. 3,600 psi worth of anything will make one helluva blast if the tank takes a significant hit in an accident scenario. Just the compressed gas getting loose all at once will make tiny pieces out of anything nearby, no need for an ignition source.

bumper

Gasoline powered Husky A1-B

There is only one way that NG could be used practically and that's using the word loosely. But if avgas prices continue to climb. Then possibly thin walled cryogenic tanks could be fitted and just minutes before departure they would be filled with liquid natural gas. This fuel would be used ( before quickly evaporating) for take off and en route climb and maybe an hour of 2 of cruise before switching back over to avgas or the new UL91 which would probably end up being more expensive than 100ll. Anyway. As mentioned earlier, Propane would be a better fuel, It can be stored indefinitely as a liquid with moderate containment and can be used efficiently in high compression engines.
General aviation is going to need cheaper energy options in order to survive. I don't think the oil executives with their heads stuffed firmly up their ignorant asses realize how far a 7.00 or more gallon goes. Even in small piss pot planes that answer is ,not very far.
In general our society is heading for deep shit. Prices are escalating at incredible rates. As soon as there is a sign that the economy is on an upswing.The commodity traders are in there pushing the prices of oil, lumber and general necessities up. It's like having a drowning man in a phase of recovery, and just as he his catching his breath he has a rope tied around his neck choking off his air. Meanwhile the scum bags on wall street shift there billions around making millions off the backs of the general population and doing absolutely fuck all for it This is no surprise though.,history always repeats itself. Enjoy what little time there is left. Even for us who are relatively comfortable now will be driven down into poverty in the coming decades. I always remembered a common phrase stated by those who amass great wealth. Money is just numbers and those who tally up the biggest score at the end wins.The rest of the 99.9999999999 looses. Well the finish line is approaching. Welcome to unbridled capitalism. A game where the front runners make up all the rules. Im glad I'm getting old. God help the young. There gonna need it.

I had occasion to think about the safety aspects of containers with compressed gas in them 2 days ago, and this thread flashed through my mind!

I had my oxy/acy torch cart in the tractor bucket, and had just unloaded it prior to moving some dirt on a project I'm doing. Long story short I had my head up my ass and while looking behind me knocked the cart over. It broke off two of my gauges but the bottle valves didn't get snapped off or I wouldn't be typing this, as they were aimed right at me (what are the odds of that). While my home made cart shelters the valves, the torch gauges are somewhat vulnerable I found out in a tip over, a slight re-do will fix that. Funny how the most dangerous stuff happens when you least expect it.

I saw the nat gas Husky in the Aviat hangar a few days before Oshkosh, and that was the first thing that popped into my mind, it looked like the tank would be one of the first things to hit the ground. For that matter, I've always wondered about the belly tanks I've seen on some Cubs, used primarly by the very same guys most likely to land off airport and break things. Anyone ever hear of one rupturing and causing a problem?