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Auto Fuel on the road

shimuneka

Member
I have been giving a lot of thought lately as to what you guys typically do about unleaded fuel while on cross country flights behind a Rotax. It is something I have never previously considered, but I got to wondering. I know I could lug around fuel cans, but if I am on a multple day trip, I probably need the baggage area reserved for bags. Just curious as to how the pros do it.
 
Are you implying carrying extra fuel cans in baggage compartment of RV-12? I don't think I'd do that.

I'd use 100LL and just schedule earlier oil change after return to home base...
 
Just the cans

I meant carrying empty cans to fill up on the road. I definitely wouldn?t want to carry fuel in the cabin.
 
I suspect that you are looking for a suitable container to haul Mogas from an enroute gas station to your RV-12's stock 20-gallon fuel tank (i.e., NOT for actual storage in the baggage compartment). Many backcountry pilots use flexible tanks (@ 5.2 gallons) for this purpose. Try Googling: "flexible aircraft fuel containers backcountry" for some ideas.
 
Russ it's hard to beat plastic cans while on the road. I tried flexible tanks what a pain in the neck to fill at the stations and then empty into the tank. Next to impossible without a spill it's always windy. It's never right flange it's often a rush. Nobody wanted them and tossed them in the trash :) If you are traveling alone faraway (Alaska or BC for example) just keep couple of cans empty in the plane. Leave them with somebody if not needed anymore. I have left fuel cans at several locations through Alaska and Canada you can borrow them if it's within your range :D





 
I use a couple of 20 litre (5.2 gal) flexible rubber fuel containers to transfer fuel from the bowser to the plane. While I don't like carrying fuel in them in the plane, I've done it on occasion when the alternative was potentially being stranded at some remote airstrip in the middle of nowhere. I eventually increased the capacity of the fuel tank to overcome that problem. I agree with Vlad that rigid cans are a bit easier to fill, but on the other hand the flexible bags empty much faster. Never had a problem with spillage.
 
Run the Shell semi synthetic motor oil, run Decaline in every fillup, and run 100LL when you need to fill up at an airport.

Read your Rotax owner manuals for more suggestions for your 912ULS on fuel and suitable oils.
 
One of my favorite cross country trips is from the Phoenix area to Chiriaco Summit, CA. It was Patton?s headquarters when his troops trained for Operation Torch. It has a museum and you land on the original airstrip. It?s a truck stop just east of Palm Springs, and the gas pumps are about 50 yards from the tie downs. I bring a an empty 5 gallon gas can and love the looks I get strolling over to the gas pumps with my big red gas can. One guy asked me in a concerned voice, ?Did you run out of gas!? I said, ?Nope, I came for the hamburgers.?😝
 
One of my favorite cross country trips is from the Phoenix area to Chiriaco Summit, CA. It was Patton?s headquarters when his troops trained for Operation Torch. It has a museum and you land on the original airstrip. It?s a truck stop just east of Palm Springs, and the gas pumps are about 50 yards from the tie downs. I bring a an empty 5 gallon gas can and love the looks I get strolling over to the gas pumps with my big red gas can. One guy asked me in a concerned voice, ?Did you run out of gas!? I said, ?Nope, I came for the hamburgers.?😝

I like that place. Stopped several times over the years. The restaurant is great and truck stop mart has everything if you are in rush. Tanks in the open are impressive.
 
One of my favorite cross country trips is from the Phoenix area to Chiriaco Summit, CA. It was Patton’s headquarters when his troops trained for Operation Torch. It has a museum and you land on the original airstrip. It’s a truck stop just east of Palm Springs, and the gas pumps are about 50 yards from the tie downs. I bring a an empty 5 gallon gas can and love the looks I get strolling over to the gas pumps with my big red gas can. One guy asked me in a concerned voice, “Did you run out of gas!” I said, “Nope, I came for the hamburgers.”��

Just follow Interstate 10, you can't miss it. I drive by it all the time on the way to the Colorado River. You can charge your Tesla there, too, but you'll be there a looooong time doing so.
 
I think the key to carrying the "rigid" plastic fuel containers if you insist on doing so is to pre-squeeze them, expelling air/vapor, before you put the cap on. This will leave them under a slight vacuum when on the ground, but when you get to altitude (assuming you are flying at reasonable altitudes) they will return to their normal shape, rather than trying to expand and subsequently becoming a pressure vessel. Of course this is purely hypothetical and YMMV.

Tom
RV-7
 
I have two older red plastic 6 gallon plastic jugs with a separate vent cap, from my jet skiing days.

I just leave the vent cap not quite screwed down all the way, so the pressure can equalize for inside and outside, while flying.

Screw them shut when filling jugs up, and unscrew when filling plane up. No issues so far, with fumes.
 
I just leave the gas cans in the hangar, fill with 100LL when I have to, and carry TCP when I think I?m going to have to. We still burn MOGAS most of the time. Life is so much simpler.
 
The hypothetical case I refer to above was ferrying avgas to an aircraft with a high compression engine on a small island that was running low due to un forecast wind situations. In some parts of the world fuel (avgas/mogas or otherwise) just doesn't magically appear everywhere. Bring on that 1kWh/kg battery so that we don't have to delve into such a discussion in the future.

Tom.
 
As we have a non conventional engine, the use of 93 Octane pump gas is attractive.

Benefits include:

1. Cleaner engine.
2. Longer life for plugs.
3. More time between oil changes.
4. No ugly exhaust smudge on the side of the airplane.
5. $2.80/gallon vs. $5.00/gallon.

A 58 gallon tank, with a self contained fuel pump (battery operated) will be used. Just load it in the back of my Explorer. When not in use, it will sit in my garage (or hangar), completely empty.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Emiliana...OgEx6uDzuSbLIiDyO1sAxIfuEMVzq1QBoCJZwQAvD_BwE
 
Wow, a 58 gallon tank will fit in your Explorer. That's impressive.
Wish we had some of that 93 Octane auto gas in my area. Best I've found here is 91 Octane.
 
Wow, a 58 gallon tank will fit in your Explorer. That's impressive.
Wish we had some of that 93 Octane auto gas in my area. Best I've found here is 91 Octane.

Bruce, what is the altitude at your home field? I suspect that the lower octane is due to the altitude that you live at. Higher altitudes you don't need as high of octane for automobiles and for that matter even for aircraft.
 
Bruce, what is the altitude at your home field? I suspect that the lower octane is due to the altitude that you live at. Higher altitudes you don't need as high of octane for automobiles and for that matter even for aircraft.

My field is at 4550 ft. My hope has been the Rotax 912iS will be happy with 91 octane at these elevations.
 
My field is at 4550 ft. My hope has been the Rotax 912iS will be happy with 91 octane at these elevations.

My 912ULS has been perfectly happy with 91 octane at 1050 MSL for the past several years. I don't know what the formula is (assuming there IS a formula) to equate 93 AKI at sea level to something else at higher altitudes. I'm almost certain someone here knows, though - there are some really, really smart guys here.
 
I often wonder what octane you really get using auto fuel. Most folks buy 87 octane for their cars and then I step up and select 93E10. I bet the delivery pump and hose need to purge into my empty 5 gallon can until pure 93 octane starts to flow. I don't think I end up with 93 octane...
 
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