My family has some property on a lake here in Maine. The nearest place for float planes to buy fuel is about 20 miles north at Twitchelles airport, and other than that there are not too many other places in the state to buy fuel. So I have been thinking over the idea of building a small dock and installing some kind of fuel pump. Our place up there is only a 5 minuet drive from a county airport that has self service fuel, so my idea is to buy it from the airport and bring it back to the lake and sell it for a profit. What is the legality with that? Also FAA regulations of fuel systems? Fuel filters, hose categories, EPA regulations, fire regulations? Would it even be worth it at the end of the day? Or is it mostly a dream?

P.S our place in the lake is a two minuet walk from a restaurant on the lake that sells take out burgers, fries pizza etc. Draw in customers? I think so.

Thanks in advance!
-Griffin

You have lots of things to consider--local business licensing, state and federal taxes, insurance, etc. I suggest that you should be talking with an attorney, an accountant, your local taxing authorities, and you might get some good advice from your nearby FBO, if indeed they will sell to you at all. At the very least, they could give you a hint on the hoops you'd need to jump through.

Personally, I wouldn't think buying at retail and selling at retail plus makes much business sense. Better to buy at wholesale and sell at retail. I have a friend who owns a self-serve fuel business at a distant airport, and he makes money with it, enough to pay for the rent to the airport, insurance, product, equipment, and an on-call person to make or arrange for immediate repairs if necessary. How much more he makes above those expenses, I don't know.

Cary

I am betting the environmental impact study and requirements on a lake is going to be "complex". Buying fuel, storing it, and using it for your own aircraft may allow you to dodge some of the quagmire but as soon as you sell an item you are into the governmental requirements.

I have a 2000 gallon tank that I use for Beluga Air. I looked into selling avgas retail. if I sold a minumum 500 gallons a season (pretty doubtful) just the insurance alone would mean I would have to sell gas at a $1.00 more than the rate on the airport, add a 20% profit and pretty much nobody would buy from me. I decided the additional hassle of the weights and measurements sticker, sales tax etc it just wasn't worth it.

You will find that government regulations do everything possible to eliminate the thought of a little business.

tim

Perhaps purchase a fuel truck with a large hose reel. DOT regulations apply. Your local airport/municipality may prevent purchasing bulk or have an additional tax. Wonder how distant a bulk fuel tank farm is from you? My nearest 100 low lead source is over 100 miles away....and I can't drive there from here. My solution was to pick up a 1000 gallon Avgas specific fuel truck, purchase fuel bulk off the spring barge and added fuel sales to my airport (PAPM) liability policy. I seriously doubt I'll ever see a profit let alone recover the cost of the equipment....but I now have gas for my personal use.


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The suggestion made earlier about talking with an attorney is a good one. If you think environmental protection laws are toothy for fuel dispensed on land, think again if you will deliver fuel to something on fish bearing, navigable waters. The Federal Clean Water Act, which is administered by the State is very particular. Add the lead that is in AvGas and things get really particular. Do you have deep pockets, deep enough to clean up a spill of toxic lead from the lake if someone is star gazing for just a few seconds when the pump is going full throttle??

The EPA could get you. If anyone you sell gas to has an accident you'll likely be sued.

There's no way you should even consider this without first getting a quote from an insurer.

Never sell avgas unless you love bureaucracies and lawyers.

MTV

Lease dock space and land to the FBO for a self serve pump and tank. Have them worry about managing the fuel. If there's enough traffic then it could be worth their while.