aviation gas
04-13-2002, 01:56 AM
#1
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aviation gas
hey guys, I just wanted to let everyone know about "avgas"
I am a person that uses it everyday. I am an aircraft mechainic and a perofrmance boat driver and a hot rodder. I am the maintenence supervisor of the daytona beach jet center and I drive a 22 scarab and a blown hemi coupe for "fun times". My opinion on running the fuel is this.
if your engine requires higer octane you will love avgas. It is rated at 100 octane, but the 100 octane rating is possible because of an additive called tetra-ethel lead. The makers of this fuel add it to avgas to increase the octane rating. But there is more. it also increases the "flash point" of fuel. as aircraft go up and the air thins, things vaporise or boil at lower temps because of air pressures. I have people trying to be cheap and run high test car gas in planes and vapor lock at high altitudes. but anyway, this gas has a lot of lead in it!! it will form deposits on combustion chambers and foul plugs every once and a while. you see they add lead to increase the octane rating but when it gets hot enough, the lead pools in the combustion chamber and fouls plugs at low rpm's. really no big deal. just do not run it in a car with a cat it will clog it real fast. the fuel, as far as I know, has a very long shelf life. I have had aircraft sit on the ground for over 2 years and not have a "bad fuel" problem except for water contamination. this fuel is less dense then water and actually floats on water like oil. so when you fire up an engine that has been idle for awhile, it sucks up water from condensation or rain first and it will not run and possibly get a liquid lock. if you want to run it do it, I run it in my hot rods and my boats with great results. just dont leave it in the tank over the winter. run regular gas with stabil or any other product you chose before storing it. It does evaporate quickly and thank god it wont leave you smelling like a mechanic if you get it on your skin. it is also one of the best cleaners that you will find. for the people saying that it acts like 115 , well that I dont know, I have never had an engine that needs 115 to run on and if you built one of them then you probably won't threaten your prize engine trying a low cost fuel, but if you need 91 or higher, this is the way to go, it is cheaper. the guy who would not pump this fuel in your boat was just following the rules, because it is a leaded fuel, he is not allowed to pump it in your boat or car or anything but an airplane. I even have to get it in tanks and put it in my toys and I work where they sell it. what I do is get 55 gallon drums and a cheap transfer pump from granger and put it in my toys. so have fun and run it. it smells great out of the transom and gives you good performance. I feel that it is what you need between high octane and race fuel. Any technical questions you might have I can answer with a bit of research so feel free to ask.
Billy
I am a person that uses it everyday. I am an aircraft mechainic and a perofrmance boat driver and a hot rodder. I am the maintenence supervisor of the daytona beach jet center and I drive a 22 scarab and a blown hemi coupe for "fun times". My opinion on running the fuel is this.
if your engine requires higer octane you will love avgas. It is rated at 100 octane, but the 100 octane rating is possible because of an additive called tetra-ethel lead. The makers of this fuel add it to avgas to increase the octane rating. But there is more. it also increases the "flash point" of fuel. as aircraft go up and the air thins, things vaporise or boil at lower temps because of air pressures. I have people trying to be cheap and run high test car gas in planes and vapor lock at high altitudes. but anyway, this gas has a lot of lead in it!! it will form deposits on combustion chambers and foul plugs every once and a while. you see they add lead to increase the octane rating but when it gets hot enough, the lead pools in the combustion chamber and fouls plugs at low rpm's. really no big deal. just do not run it in a car with a cat it will clog it real fast. the fuel, as far as I know, has a very long shelf life. I have had aircraft sit on the ground for over 2 years and not have a "bad fuel" problem except for water contamination. this fuel is less dense then water and actually floats on water like oil. so when you fire up an engine that has been idle for awhile, it sucks up water from condensation or rain first and it will not run and possibly get a liquid lock. if you want to run it do it, I run it in my hot rods and my boats with great results. just dont leave it in the tank over the winter. run regular gas with stabil or any other product you chose before storing it. It does evaporate quickly and thank god it wont leave you smelling like a mechanic if you get it on your skin. it is also one of the best cleaners that you will find. for the people saying that it acts like 115 , well that I dont know, I have never had an engine that needs 115 to run on and if you built one of them then you probably won't threaten your prize engine trying a low cost fuel, but if you need 91 or higher, this is the way to go, it is cheaper. the guy who would not pump this fuel in your boat was just following the rules, because it is a leaded fuel, he is not allowed to pump it in your boat or car or anything but an airplane. I even have to get it in tanks and put it in my toys and I work where they sell it. what I do is get 55 gallon drums and a cheap transfer pump from granger and put it in my toys. so have fun and run it. it smells great out of the transom and gives you good performance. I feel that it is what you need between high octane and race fuel. Any technical questions you might have I can answer with a bit of research so feel free to ask.
Billy
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04-13-2002, 07:58 AM
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In west MI it's around 2.40 a gal. Personally, I won't use any gas as a cleaning solvent just because of the chance of fire. But to each his/her own. And there again, this is just my opinion, but I don't have any problem leaving the 100LL in the fuel tank over the winter. I run 100LL in my 1970 Z-28, which requires 95 or higher octane, and I quite often run it in my 3/4-ton 454 Suburban, which requires 92-octane since the rebuild. Around here I can buy 100LL cheaper than I can buy auto-gas premium. Simple economics. My previous aircraft, a 1949 Navion, required leaded fuel, either 80-octane (which contains lead) or 100LL, which is cheaper and more readily available than the 80-octane, and has less lead than the 80.
04-13-2002, 11:18 AM
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AV Gas
loose 22
Thats about the best information I've read yet on AV gas right from someone who knows and in laymans terms. I've run AV gas for so long I even ran it before the 100LL was all we could get. Other than that you are 100% correct on everything except the dispensing. At the airports we use, we pump it ourselves (have to use a credit card) Even the operators like us. I buy from 100 to 160 at a time, the little Cessna maybe uses 16 gallons.
Suggestion: Don't go to the airports during the mid days. Try and buy very early in the AM or in bad weather when there's no one flying. The fly boys hate to see us tieing up their pumps and its a sure way to get thrown out and banned from further use...
Thats about the best information I've read yet on AV gas right from someone who knows and in laymans terms. I've run AV gas for so long I even ran it before the 100LL was all we could get. Other than that you are 100% correct on everything except the dispensing. At the airports we use, we pump it ourselves (have to use a credit card) Even the operators like us. I buy from 100 to 160 at a time, the little Cessna maybe uses 16 gallons.
Suggestion: Don't go to the airports during the mid days. Try and buy very early in the AM or in bad weather when there's no one flying. The fly boys hate to see us tieing up their pumps and its a sure way to get thrown out and banned from further use...
04-13-2002, 08:24 PM
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i run it in everything-lawnmower-weedwacker-dirtbike-boats--outboard and i/o---the only time i saw a problem was with my buddy's harly---he ran it straight---the bike was running like **** with the av gas in it---ran 50-50 mix with regular gas--bike ran well----remember high octane isn't always better---ie--dyno testing a motor that 89 was reccomended with 116 race fuel---the motor LOST about 20hp
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