Alcohol in fuels

The EAA recently published an article in its online “Light Plane World” reviewing the various aspects of operating small aircraft engines when ethanol might be present in Mogas.

Building on past work by your bloggers and others, the article does a good job of providing ample warning of the various problems that can occur when ethanol is found in our fuel. Unfortunately, it does not explain why the supply of ethanol-free fuel is becoming scarce, nor does it suggest what actions might be taken to reverse this trend. Your bloggers have repeatedly called for an exemption to the EISA 2007 ethanol production mandates that would forbid the blending of ethanol in premium unleaded gas, thus preserving a fuel for the millions of gasoline engines in vehicles and machinery that can not burn it.

The GAfuels Blog is written by three private pilots concerned about the future availability of fuels for piston-engine aircraft. They are:

  • Dean Billing (Sisters, Ore.) – an expert on autogas and ethanol
  • Kent Misegades (Cary, N.C.) – an aerospace engineer and aviation journalist
  • Todd Petersen (Minden, Neb.) – former aerial applicator and owner of more than 150 Mogas STCs for aircraft

For a list of airports that have ethanol-free fuel and those no longer pumping it, compiled by the authors, follow this link.