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Fuel question

R

rvaitor87

Well Known Member
I know this is in the wrong section, but it does involve fuel. I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Florida the price of Avgas is over $5.00 a gallon.:eek: I have found a auto repair shop that sell non-ethanol gas for boaters. This guy gaurentees that there is NO alcahol in his gas.

Now for the questions.:confused:

1. How do I test for ethanol, he says it's clean, but I don't really want to trust my life on his word. Is there a kit available?

2. Would it be alright to mix with avgas. This engine has run on mogas before, but the plugs always fouled on the way out to the runway, so I went back to avgas. (I have since learned to lean)

The engine is a O-320 B2B 160hp

All help will be appreciated:D
 
It's easy, Mike..

rvaitor87 said:
1. How do I test for ethanol, he says it's clean, but I don't really want to trust my life on his word. Is there a kit available?

2. Would it be alright to mix with avgas. This engine has run on mogas before, but the plugs always fouled on the way out to the runway, so I went back to avgas. (I have since learned to lean)

The engine is a O-320 B2B 160hp

All help will be appreciated:D
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..because alcohol is very attracted to water.

I use a paint mixing tube with ten lines, equally spaced...1/2" markings work. Fill to the first line with water, then add gas 'til the tenth (top) line. shake it up and the water will "suck" the alcohol out of the gas and if it's 10% alcohol, the water line will now come up to near the second line.

You can use any clear container that lets you see the original water level get bigger IF there's alcohol present.

FWIW, a friend of mine rides a crotch rocket and has made a 55 gallon drum to extricate any alcohol. He puts in 5 gallons of water and adds 45 gallons of gas. By the time he gets home and it sloshed for a few miles, the alcohol has been pulled down by the water. He has a spigot at the bottom that drains the water/alcohol mix until he sees/smells gas.

Best,
 
Please do not use a "scary face" to easily.......

rvaitor87 said:
I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Florida the price of Avgas is over $5.00 a gallon.:eek:
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You lucky........

At our flying club the Avgas is now ? 2,45/ltr ==> $ 13,35/GAL !!!!!!
Some places the prices are as high as ? 2,80/ltr ==> $ 15,26/GAL !!!!!!

That's a reason for a :eek: !!

I am investigating where I can buy Ethanol free Mogas at the moment (wich will still be $ 8,50 to $ 10,00/GAL though)

Regards, Tonny.
 
Go to pure-gas.com for a list of gas stations that have been tested to carry non-alcohol gas. If you find a new station (and test it!), then you can add that station to the data base.

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To test for alcohol, I fill up a couple of five gallon jugs and bring them back to the airport. At the airport, I'll use my clear fuel tester. Put about an inch of water in the tester and use a sharpie to mark the water level. Then fill the tester up with your "non-alcohol" fuel. Shake it a little and then let it sit. Come back after an hour and check the water level. If the water level hasn't changed, you're in luck!:) If the water level has gone UP, then you have alcohol in your fuel and you might as well pour it into your car.:(

I use premium auto gas in my plane. I also update the Pure-Gas website periodically.
 
Wrong way to get alcohol out of fuel!

pierre smith said:
FWIW, a friend of mine rides a crotch rocket and has made a 55 gallon drum to extricate any alcohol. He puts in 5 gallons of water and adds 45 gallons of gas. By the time he gets home and it sloshed for a few miles, the alcohol has been pulled down by the water. He has a spigot at the bottom that drains the water/alcohol mix until he sees/smells gas.
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Don't do this for your airplane!:eek:

The alcohol provides part of the octane for the gas. When your friend drags the alcohol out of the gas using this method, he is lowering the octane of the gas by several points! That Premium gas just dropped down to less-than-regular gas.
 
I am glad you posted this Mr Hawk

I was just reading Pierre's story and thinking to myself that is all well and good but the grade of fuel that is left behind will be sub-par. That is the very reason they use the ethanol in the first place, apart from greenie givernment subsidised stealling food crops from the poor campaigns :mad:

You guys need to get onto the FAA and whoever else over there to get the GAMI G100UL fuel approved. It is about the only good news in years for aviation and its going nowhere fast.:mad::mad:
 
RV10inOz said:
I am glad you posted this Mr Hawk

I was just reading Pierre's story and thinking to myself that is all well and good but the grade of fuel that is left behind will be sub-par. That is the very reason they use the ethanol in the first place, apart from greenie givernment subsidised stealling food crops from the poor campaigns :mad:

You guys need to get onto the FAA and whoever else over there to get the GAMI G100UL fuel approved. It is about the only good news in years for aviation and its going nowhere fast.:mad::mad:
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Another reason would be that you are pooring 10% of that saving into drain, so not much saving by buying auto gas when you consider the added transportation to the airport, hassle and danger of adding gas from a container and all.

It really sucks that AVGas has gone up so much. I put over 300 hours in my new RV and now try to limit my flying as much as I can when I see the cost of fuel :(
 
I put over 300 hours in my new RV and now try to limit my flying as much as I can when I see the cost of fuel
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Not sure that is really a wise idea. Flying less is bad on a number of fronts, engine corrossion will cost you way more long term, being less current (unless you fly for a living) will possibly increase your chances of an incident that may cost you. Your fixed costs will remain and make your desire to sell it easier.

Things you can do, find the best suitable fuel sources (not always the cheapest at the pump), if you smoke...give up and put the money into Avgas, a few less beers, take your wife / girlfriend to somewhere for a picnic lunch instead of dinner out somewhere. Take lunch from home to work instead of buying lunch. Steal back the kids pocket money ;)

All the above will plug the fuel cost increases and then some. Even if only half of them apply to you. Less flying NO WAY!

If your engine is injected get the injectors tuned and learn how to run LOP, this will save you heaps in fuel and maintenance.

DB:cool:
 
It is kind of funny but the FAA is bragging how the GA accident rate has gone down so much

Well, if no one is flying due to the high cost of fuel, then sure it will go down.

Or will it? If people are flying less, they are not as sharp (current). Thus, although the total number of hours may go down, the accident rate could go up.

As for testing auto fuel, I keep one of the EAA testers in my truck and check the occasional gas station and often find pure auto gas, despite the ?Contains 10% Ethanol? sticker on the pump.

Also, with corn stocks at an all-time low and food prices going up, I wouldn?t be surprised if the government changes the ethanol mandate.

As I always say, ?Corn should be drunk, not burned.?
 
N941WR said:
As for testing auto fuel, I keep one of the EAA testers in my truck and check the occasional gas station and often find pure auto gas, despite the ?Contains 10% Ethanol? sticker on the pump.
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That's actually quite interesting. I had not heard that before. Have you noticed any pattern as to what stations do and don't have the ethanol?
 
Phlyan Pan said:
That's actually quite interesting. I had not heard that before. Have you noticed any pattern as to what stations do and don't have the ethanol?
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No pattern noticed but then, I don't test the fuel that frequently. However, after the fact, I notice the mileage going up or down on my pickup and I think that is a result of the ethanol. For example, yesterday I recorded 19.8 MPG, which is outstanding. Last week, over the exact same trip, I saw 16.4 MPG.

I think the entire ethanol thing is a conspiracy by the government to increase gas tax revenue by forcing us to buy more fuel because they reduced our MPG. ;)
 
N941WR said:
I think the entire ethanol thing is a conspiracy by the government to increase gas tax revenue by forcing us to buy more fuel because they reduced our MPG. ;)
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That may be a small part of it but most likely it is a corn lobby genesis.

Imagine what state and federal governments (USA) would do if within a months 20% of the cars in the USA were swapped out for electric cars.

I hope that the ethanol fraud will be ended soon. I have no desire to use it in my plane. For a short while I tried a 50/50 blend of 100LL and ~91 octane unleaded fuel in what I deemed my cruise tank. Now the source for the ethanol free autogas is gone.

I was never fond of fueling the plane from plastic cans anyway.

100LL will be here a long time unless the Swift fuel becomes a viable substitute.
 
the answer to mixing the gases is it is fine. i have been mixed up for over 7 years now. i am running a 5/1 mix in the left cruise tank and 50/50 in the right take off and land tank. marvel added to it. doing this with non ethanol should be fine. i use regular car gas though. i am saving about $8/hr.
 
fuel question

Thanks to all who have replied. I have ordered a test kit, and hopefully I will be able to find good gas somewhere. There are several ways to afford what we do for fun, several have been listed here. It's just finding which is best for you. As for me, I plan on flying, wife will just have to understand, no more eating out.:p
 
Way to go Mike :)

100LL will be here a long time unless the Swift fuel becomes a viable substitute.
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I am not so sure, and could be proven wrong, but I do not think the Swift thing will grow legs. GAMI G100UL on the other hand is the most likely contender. It is made from the same stock as mogas, it has all the same components as mogas and it will cost about the same as 100LL to produce.

The company that makes TEL almost went belly up a little while ago and once the FAA and whoever else get their a$$ into gear you might find G100UL is the way of the future.

Get onto this site and get active in pushing the FAA etc into making some progress.

http://www.100octaneformyplane.com/
 
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