"I Was Sick of L.A. Traffic. So I Took a Plane to Work..."

(A. Jones, 10/25/12, LAWeekly Blogs) I am flying westward over the Angeles Crest Mountains, the morning sun shining down over the San Fernando Valley as it spreads out below me and we bank south. The Cessna 152, aptly named "the Commuter," cruises at just over 3,500 feet as we travel from the Agua Dulce Airpark toward Santa Monica Airport -- a 47-mile trip that will put me just two miles from my office in Culver City. Exhilaration rushes through me as the plane reaches optimal speed, or "trues out," at about 95 knots, the propeller spinning in a blur. The pilot, Michael Gold, checks in with air traffic control, effortlessly communicating a long string of flight information consisting of letters and numbers. I may be on my way to work, but this is definitely not an ordinary workday. I don't usually commute by small plane. Other than the Lakers' Kobe Bryant -- who famously helicopters from Newport Beach to Staples Center -- who does? Since I started my job a year ago, in fact, I've been commuting almost 70 miles round-trip each day on L.A.'s jam-packed streets, spending, on average, three hours (or more) stuck in traffic on the 405.Like so many Angelenos, I've become numb to the frustration of fighting the gridlock every morning at the dreaded interchange of the 101 and the 405. Mere mention of the words "Skirball" or "Getty Center" is enough to keep me in my office until well past 8 p.m. When it's just too much and I'm completely stopped on the highway, needing to pee so badly, my numbness turns to desperation: Screaming inside and crying proverbial tears of blood, I tell myself that there must be a better way! But the thought remained just that -- a cry for help more than a plan for action -- until I met Michael Gold.Gold is in his second year of flight training, working toward his commercial license. A recent college graduate and studio musician, he has been obsessed with airplanes since childhood. After our brief introduction at a friend's barbecue, it was only a few seconds before the conversation turned to traffic. I launched into my usual complaints, only to be stopped short when he casually mentioned that, by air, the same trip would take about nine minutes. Nine minutes? I couldn't believe what I was hearing.Was there really hope? A way around the traffic? Some sort of salvation? I had to try this! But could I really fly to work?...

 

Avgas Issues Will Take Time To Resolve
Aviation International News » November 2012

(M. Thurber, 11/01/12, AINOnline) The aviation industry is slowly headed toward development of an unleaded replacement fuel for avgas-burning piston-powered aircraft, and a recent move by the FAA is an encouraging sign that progress will continue. The FAA recently agreed to open a new Fuels Program Office, according to NATA, that will provide “technical expertise and strategic direction in the planning, management and coordination of activities related to aviation fuels.”

NATA and several other aviation associations (AOPA, EAA, GAMA and NBAA) sent a letter on August 1 to FAA acting administrator Michael Huerta, asking for the FAA’s help in funding and managing efforts to find a suitable replacement for 100LL (100-octane) avgas. 100LL relies on the additive tetraethyl lead to prevent detonation in high-compression piston engines that power high-performance aircraft, and pressure from environmental groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has intensified scrutiny of leaded avgas.

An aviation rulemaking committee has explored the avgas issue and made recommendations to the FAA. According to the association letter to the FAA, “We are at a critical phase between consideration of the Unleaded Avgas Transition Aviation Rulemaking Committee (UAT ARC) recommendations and implementation of a fiscally responsible FAA unleaded avgas program that will achieve this objective.” The letter asked Huerta to fund the FAA’s avgas program with $5.5 million in the Fiscal Year 2014 budget, “not only for the economic sustainability of general aviation in the U.S., but also for its safety.”

The FAA avgas program will help in two key ways. One is to demonstrate that the FAA and industry are working together on a clear path to an unleaded fuel replacement. Without that clarity, owners, operators and investors won’t be motivated to maintain their aircraft and invest in new avionics and other aviation technologies. “An avgas program is also needed to support the FAA’s statutory role in cooperation with the EPA to implement any lead emissions standards for aircraft it deems necessary under the Clean Air Act,” according to the letter...

 

In my post #120 of this thread, I pasted a clip from AOPA about the new Cessna "Turbo NXT" Diesel Skylane, later renamed the JT-A. It is one of the first biofuel compatible GA aircraft and it evens burns Jet-A rather than Swift fuel, or another avgas biofuel. It's ungodly expensive to most people, but it is also a solid move forward in this area. Here's a followup clip (you gotta like "game changer", now that's an original phrase).

Cessna website- Skylane JT-A
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Cessna Closing In On Certification For JT-A Skylane.

The Wichita (KS) Eagle (1/16, McMillin) reports, "Cessna Aircraft is nearing certification of its four-seat 182 JT-A Skylane equipped with a diesel engine, which is designed to burn jet fuel." The article notes with the "uncertain future for low-lead aviation gasoline," or avgas, "worldwide, Cessna officials said the 182 JT-A - with its 230-horsepower engine - is poised to be an industry game-changer." Brian Cozine, an engineer specialist in advanced design at Cessna, stressed that not only does it use less fuel than avgas engines, but can fly longer distances as well. Currently, the company "is scheduled for Federal Aviation Administration certification by the end of March, with first delivery in the second quarter followed by certification from European authorities in the third quarter."

West Lafayette-based [avgas maker] Swift Fuels expands reach into Europe

(02/01/2013, H. Colombo, JCOnline) The Purdue Research Park company that is working to develop a sustainable commercial replacement for aviation gasoline announced Friday that it has expanded its reach in Europe. Swift Fuels LLC has acquired 50 percent of German firm Swift Fuel GmbH, a move that will give it greater access to foreign investors. Swift Fuel GmbH was registered in January 2011 as a Swift Fuels subsidiary. The deal allows Swift Fuel GmbH the ability to license the intellectual property and technical expertise from the West Lafayette firm. “This is a major milestone in our efforts to broaden Swift Fuels’ market coverage and deepen our technical base,” said Swift Fuels chief executive officer Chris D’Acosta. D’Acosta would not release financial terms of the deal. The acquisition took place in Germany. “The strategy is to allow (Swift Fuel GmbH CEO) Thomas Albuzat and (civil engineer) Andreas Penner to serve as our partners in behalf of Swift Fuels LLC throughout Europe,” D’Acosta said via email. “They have contacts of potential investors. We thought our commitment to license our intellectual property and technical expertise (will) help position us with more European investors.”

Diesel Cessna JT-A on Track for Imminent Certification

(M. Phelps, Flying, 4/25/2013) With 13 airplanes on the production line, Cessna's jet-A-burning Turbo Skylane JT-A is on schedule for certification and first deliveries before the end of June. "We are on track," said Jeff Umscheid, business leader for the project. "We have been taking orders since [EAA AirVenture 2012 last summer]." The JT-A's SMA diesel engine is exhibiting a 40 percent increase in fuel efficiency, compared with gasoline engines, said Umscheid, and its electronic engine controls (with mechanical backup) and single power lever simplify the pilot's engine management chores. "The reduction in pilot workload is substantial," he said. An important goal of the program was to market a Skylane able to use more widely available jet fuel, because avgas is scarce in many parts of the world. And even where it is available, leaded avgas is costly to manufacture and deliver, since equipment used to make and deliver it cannot be used with unleaded auto fuels. Cessna also announced its composite TTx is preparing for first deliveries in May. The first flight of a production airplane was in March. With a cruise speed of 235 knots, the TTx is billed as the fastest certified single-engine fixed gear aircraft. Brian Steele, business leader for the TTx program, pointed out that speed isn't the only virtue of the new model.
Its Garmin 2000 avionics suite includes touch-screen panels. Touch-screen control pads, air conditioning, side sticks, golf-bag-friendly baggage space and stitched leather on the seats contribute to the overall value.

 

This sounds good, but will not work for all aviation piston engines so is not a final solution.
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Arizona Startup To Produce Unleaded Aviation Gasoline

(S. Pope, 05/23/13, Flying) An Arizona company called Airworthy AutoGas said it plans to start production of a high-purity, low-vapor-pressure 93 octane unleaded aviation gasoline this fall that could replace 100LL avgas in about 80 percent of piston airplanes. “A growing number of general aviation aircraft do not require 100LL avgas or a 100 octane unleaded drop-in replacement,” noted Mark Ellery, Airworthy’s director of business development. “That, coupled with the scarcity of suitable ethanol-free automotive gasoline in the marketplace, resulted in the development of Airworthy AutoGas.”

 

Well, it's called go turbine. The reason the recreational side of GA is dying is in part to having to spend twice as much for effectively what 87 UL can provide, only because 20% of the fleet that's not recreational is 80% of the 100LL market. They're holding recreational GA hostage. Even the ethanol concern is overstated. Of course in this litigious society, no one can be allowed to exercise the discretion of NOT parking the ol C-172 with two tankfuls of 87UL for six months then take it up for a spin with so much as sumping the tanks. That would be too much to ask, which is why the FAA doesn;t allow me to run ethanol blend, though when I run it in the experimental (and the certified...) it runs fine. And if your engine is normally aspirated you simply ain't gonna get too high for mogas vapor pressures to be an issue.

You want a resurgence in GA traffic? Make mogas widely available at the ramp where customers can get it...for $3.67. "Special 94UL" for $5.95 ain't gonna fix the problem either.

 

Agree 100%. Light GA needs mogas gas as of yesterday. Even the ethanol adulterated works ok in most of them. And non-ethanol gas is readily available. These airplanes do not fly well near their service ceiling so lowering it a little to cut the cost the fuel in half is only smart. I have learned that local resistance to installing mogas at local fields is more about the cost of the tanks and installation than anything else- airport operators look at moving 200 gallons a week for ten grand and that's the end of it. The solution may be to develop a program that allows dual use fuel pads- cars and light trucks over here, GA over there, same tanks pumps and gas for all.

 

I'd be willing to fuel my car up at the airport to support this, probably would be putting better quality fuel in my car too.

 

That would be a tax problem. Not an insurmountable one, but still a BIG problem for law makers and people afraid of lawyers.

 

This isn't really news, but it gives something of a status report on the subject.
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FAA wants unleaded airplane fuel

(A. Halsey III, Washington Post, 06/11/13) The Federal Aviation Administration wants some airplanes to run on the same thing cars have been using for years: cleaner burning unleaded fuel. The FAA said Monday that it will ask the fuel industry for proposals to develop a new unleaded fuel by 2018 for use by the non-commercial airplanes known as the general aviation fleet. “General aviation is vital to the U.S. economy and is an important form of transportation for many Americans,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “We need to work with industry develop an unleaded fuel that advances aviation safety and improves the environment.” The unleaded fuel would replace the 100 octane low-lead formula now being used in about 167,000 general aviation planes in the country. The FAA said that fuel is the last of its type in use in the United States that adds tetraethyl lead to boost octane to the level needed for high-performance airplane engines. The formulas submitted by industry developers will be tested at the FAA’s laboratory near Atlantic City using $5.6 million included in the White House’s 2014 budget...

Embry-Riddle: GAMI G100UL Tests Looks Promising

(P. Bertorelli, 08/27/13, AvWeb)Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s testing of GAMI’s G100UL unleaded fuel looks promising, the school told AVweb last week, and it says it sees no reason why the fuel can’t be a drop-in replacement for 100LL. With two major flight training campuses, ERAU wants an unleaded replacement for avgas sooner rather than later and has been testing both Swift Fuel and General Aviation Modifications Inc.’s G100UL in a school Cessna 172. “Our students are green aware and they’ve made it clear we want to go in the direction of eliminating leaded fuel. If we can get an unleaded fuel, we would like to get out of 100LL, no question. We’re footing the bill for what we’re doing in the testing,” said ERAU’s Pat Anderson, who’s overseeing the G100UL test program at the school’s Daytona Beach campus. ERAU’s test program is divided into three phases: a FAR Part 23 airframe certification test including climbs, shutdowns and restarts and a FAR 33 150-hour in-flight longer-term performance trial. Phase three will repeat the initial testing to identify any differences in findings. The test aircraft is a Cessna 172 with an engine at TBO, but with two new cylinders that will allow gauging wear that might not be evident on the run-out cylinders. Anderson expects the flight trials to be done by the end of the year with further testing, perhaps an operational pilot program, to follow...

Shell Unleaded Avgas: New formula 10 years in the making

(J. Moore, 12/03/2013, AOPA) Shell has been working for a decade in a dedicated aviation laboratory developing an unleaded aviation fuel. Shell has been working for a decade in a dedicated aviation laboratory developing an unleaded aviation fuel. Shell Aviation, a subsidiary of the multinational oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, announced Dec. 3 that a 10-year effort in the laboratory has produced a fuel that may put a long-sought goal—once thought to be unattainable—within reach: a lead-free “performance drop-in” replacement for 100LL that could power any aircraft in the piston fleet. “That’s our definite goal,” said Michael Sargeant, avgas commercial aviation manager for Shell Aviation, in a phone interview, when asked specifically about the ambition to produce a “performance drop-in” avgas replacement. “We’ve tested it and had some exciting and successful tests.” The lead-free formulation has a motor octane number (MON) over 100, a critical factor in formulating a fleetwide fuel that could power high-compression engines. (Octane prevents premature ignition known as detonation, and is measured by more than one scale.) Shell’s new lead-free formula has passed preliminary tests in Lycoming engines on the ground, and a Piper Saratoga recently flew for about an hour on the fuel, according to a news release from Shell—the first of many tests that will be required for certification. “It’s an exciting milestone,” Sargeant said, adding that the company looks forward to working with manufacturers across the general aviation industry, and various regulatory agencies. The company will pursue fleetwide certification rather than a model-by-model approach. Sargeant said tests done on the new formula to date “indicate that it’s a great candidate for fleetwide approval.” The exact path that Shell must navigate to gain such approval remains to be established. The FAA has a goal of deploying a lead-free piston aviation fuel by 2018, though Sargeant said the company may be able to achieve required approvals and start distribution sooner than that. “We believe two to three years might be possible,” Sargeant said. “That’s the timeframe that we would love to work towards. The details need to be developed.” Sargeant said another design goal is to keep the retail price similar to avgas, though it is too early to know exactly what the new fuel would sell for. Shell has only just begun conversations with the various regulatory agencies involved. The fuel will be submitted for approval from the FAA, ASTM, and the European Aviation Safety Agency...

 

Unleaded Aviation Fuel Initiative Gets Funding Boost

(S. Pope, Flying, 01/28/2014) The $1.1 trillion government spending bill passed by Congress includes money for the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI), an FAA plan to start the transition to high-octane unleaded piston aviation fuel by 2018. The appropriation for fuel research was slightly higher than the requested level through fiscal year 2014. PAFI is an FAA/industry partnership that will begin evaluating candidate fuels this summer. The program aims to replace 100 low lead avgas with unleaded gasoline that can be used in the vast majority of piston-powered general aviation airplanes. The 2014 budget includes nearly $6 million in research and development funding for the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to conduct the fuels evaluation testing. "This is a crucial program for the health and long-term viability of general aviation," said Doug Macnair, vice president of government relations for the Experimental Aircraft Association. "Funding PAFI at the requested level keeps us on track for a managed, sustainable, and safe transition to a high-octane unleaded replacement for 100 low lead."