Fuel Costs -- time to make a statement!

[Ken_Stallings 2]

OK, this may be somewhat controversial, but for pilots and aircraft owner/operators, I think we have endured this nonsense way too long and now it is time for some bold organized actions and protests. Fuel costs are outrageous -- soaring in costs vastly beyond cost of living and totally defying all supply and demand laws. So, I wrote this letter to AOPA and I wanted to post that letter here. So, here it is:

 

AOPA is right to work to alleviate burdensome and harmful regulations. However, I want to talk about an even greater threat to aviation -- the soaring costs of fuel. I have a few facts to present and then I'm going to ask AOPA for aggressive action on this issue.

 

Back when I first became an airplane owner/operator in the Florida panhandle, the cost of a gallon of 100LL was around $2.00 and I remember older owner/operators complaining loudly about that! At the time, I paid about $1.25 for fuel for my car. That was back in January 2004.

 

Overall, the annual rate of inflation has remained 2% or less over these 8.5 years of time. Had fuel prices followed that formula, then today I would be paying about $2.75 for a gallon of 100LL. If only!

 

In fact, the situation is that today, the average price of 100LL is around $6.25 or more. At Portales Municipal in east New Mexico, when I moved and located my airplane (Cessna Skyhawk) in August 2008, the price for 100LL at this airport was $3.50 a gallon. As late as August of 2010, the price was between $3.75 and $4.00. Keep that price in mind as I reveal what has happened since then.

 

For most of the year 2011, the price rose to about $4.50 and then to start 2012 it rose to $5.00 a gallon abruptly. It then rose to $5.20 and I informed the airport manager that it was time to organize to stop the insanity. The price trickled down to $5.10 and stayed there for four months. This week, it jumped from $5.10 to $5.50 a gallon!

 

Auto gas meanwhile is at $3.50 a gallon. I now pay $2 a gallon more for 100LL than I pay for regular unleaded gas for my car! Back in 2004, the price difference was a mere 50 cents and that ratio of difference stayed that way for years.

 

What has happened? Have we seen something that according to supply and demand would justify such a spike in fuel prices? Nope, just the opposite! Flight hours are, in fact, way down. In fact, over the last several years general aviation in particular has been hard hit. Aircraft values have gone down as costs of operation have increased. But, the gas companies don't seem to care.

 

We have to change the dynamic at work. To my eyes, it appears that the gas companies think they can charge whatever they want to charge. But, we have to take aggressive actions to deliver the loud and clear message that this is not the case.

 

In the blunt language, we need to tell them to drink their gas because we aren't going to buy it -- not while we are getting price gouged to death! While our GA industry is dying, oil companies make record profits. While we have seen five years of horrible recession, the gas companies have done nothing but continue to jack up prices for fuel way above cost of living.

 

I am asking AOPA to work with FBO directors to boycott fuel. It sounds radical, but a radical and stark message is precisely what is needed, and I think AOPA (along with GAMA) is in the best position to organize the resistance movement. We need to pick a day on the calendar and have every FBO owner call their fuel vendor and order them to cancel the next scheduled fuel delivery.

 

If it means we ground the GA fleet, then it is the same act that truck drivers have done many times to protest the same uncontrolled rise in fuel prices. They have organized days where they refused to ship goods. It was a valuable attention getting step and I think it is time for it to happen in aviation.

 

Ken Stallings

[Cessnaflyer 56]

The problem is in the fuel type itself. No one uses that ridiculous fuel besides GA. Development is going so slow because there are a lot of people that don't want to change and think their overpowered lawnmower engines need 100LL. The best thing to do would be to move everything to JetA. Engines are already out there. The diesel engines main power band is right where the perfect prop speed is.

 

I suggest you get an auto gas STC.

[ZachLW 37]

Running mogas has it's disadvantages. Transporting and storing quantities for most a/c owners is unrealistic or impossible, and running unleaded makes for a mis-lubricated top end (stuck valves, etc and marvel mystery oil isn't exactly FAA legal!). For GA, making a switch to JetA diesels would be a monumental task. We've seen more and more mods for diesel replacements, but no one can afford them. Quite the pickle! Avgas refineries... How many are there in the states?!

 

At any rate. Asking counties, cities, private businesses, etc to boycott Avgas is asking many of them to boycott their bread and butter business. Let's face it, the county doesn't make it's buck charging over night and ramp fees. Again, quite the pickle...

[tinhead59 2]

I empathize with you Zach but the gas companies can charge what ever the market will pay and that's true of any business I think you will find. I answered the greed of gas companies by quitting driving and using the bus or a cab and find that that gives me enough money to support my hobby. I also do not have to bow down to the insurance companies and the mechanics either. So for my wife and I it's a win win situation mate. Oh by the way we don't smoke either or get gouged by the medical professionals.

John

[Great Ozzie 101]

I must say Chris... your ideas are not only pedestrian... but demonstrate a lack of understanding of the general aviation engine and the fuel itself that is used.

 

Just suppose you were told to switch your vehicle from gas to diesel. Try to imagine all that was involved. Now add in the fact you have to meet Type Certificate requirements... oh yeah... an STC doesn't exist... good luck with that btw.

 

You might not look down your nose so much if you owned an aircraft or were still trying to build hours for your current job.

 

Your I suggest you get an auto gas STC." comes across as very rude... it might be like if your car was "broken" and someone suggested you buy a good set of sneakers to get to work. This was assuming you could get actually purchase the sneakers.

 

Zach... good points btw...

 

I am asking AOPA to work with FBO directors to boycott fuel.

 

Radical? I don't think so much... just terribly difficult in the execution. Besides the co-ordination (I see the trucking industry much more in lockstep than GA) there's going to be a number of 135 operators in the hurt locker with that... not to mention the loss of income to the FBOs. I'd imagine their idea is better to sell some than none at all... and would something like that really end up increasing their bottom line?

[Cessnaflyer 56]

Running mogas has it's disadvantages. Transporting and storing quantities for most a/c owners is unrealistic or impossible, and running unleaded makes for a mis-lubricated top end (stuck valves, etc and marvel mystery oil isn't exactly FAA legal!).

 

At the airport I worked at there were a lot of aircraft with the STC. They either had their own gas caddies to pick up fuel while they were coming to the airport ($200-$300) depending on the size they wanted (That cost can be paid for by one or two fills ups). Others purchased an old pick up with a larger tank in the bed and the group of pilots would use that. They paid off the truck in a months of savings. It can be done if they think outside the box.

 

As for engine problems, I have not heard of one and there are at least 20 people flying regularly that I know of. Even some of the aircraft are used as trainers and those engines are notorious for being damaged from improper usage by students. How many times have you gone to run up and have had a large drop in the bottom mags because of plug fowling? The majority of it is caused by the lead melting to the plugs. I've never had that problem in an auto gas aircraft.

 

For GA, making a switch to JetA diesels would be a monumental task. We've seen more and more mods for diesel replacements, but no one can afford them. Quite the pickle!

 

This country is one of the few that still has 100LL available at the majority of the airports. There have been many people switching over to diesel engines. Next time the aircraft is in for an engine switch it over to a Jet A burning unit. There is a reason why Cessna's new aircraft are being made with JetA burning aircraft http://www.cessna.com/single-engine/skylane.html. Getting rid of a fuel type has been done many times in the past (80/87, 100/130, 115/140). Even the whole automotive industry had to make the switch from leaded to unleaded.

 

Avgas refineries... How many are there in the states?!

 

I think the world is down to only 10 refineries that are able to produce it. It is a difficult fuel to make. It is one of the most highly refined and has to have lead added which makes it a difficult and costly fuel to produce. No you have to ship tiny quantities around the world for a small number of consumers. This shows why the supply will be continuously dwindling.

 

At any rate. Asking counties, cities, private businesses, etc to boycott Avgas is asking many of them to boycott their bread and butter business. Let's face it, the county doesn't make it's buck charging over night and ramp fees. Again, quite the pickle...

 

Exactly, this letter is going about it the wrong way. The majority of taxes that keep the airport around are from the sale of fuel. The focus needs to be on an alternative. Fighting the FBO's and the oil companies from an ill conceived notion that they are trying to gouge us, is going to get you no where. The basic supply and demand does not work with this limited market with fuel. The reason it is going up is in the letter. Dwindling flight hours leads to a dwindling need of a fuel that is expensive to produce. If you produce something and very few people buy it, why would you continue to produce it for a loss? Soon it is going to be cheaper to tear down that section of the refinery and build one producing auto gas as the highest refined fuel.

 

I answered the greed of gas companies by quitting driving and using the bus or a cab and find that that gives me enough money to support my hobby.

Unfortunately that doesn't work for everyone. When I am at work and living in the city I can do this but when I commute back home the nearest store is 12 miles away and public transportation is unheard of. I know you don't live in the US but for those of us that do, here is a state by state breakdown of what auto fuel taxes are: http://www.gaspricew...b_gas_taxes.php It's not just the oil companies greed.

 

Oh by the way we don't smoke either or get gouged by the medical professionals.

 

My Grandfather was an Oncologist so he taught me early what smoking can do to you. I stay far away from that. Although I'm not sure how people get gouged by medical professionals, the majority of the costs go to malpractice insurance because of all the sue happy people here.

 

I must say Chris... your ideas are not only pedestrian... but demonstrate a lack of understanding of the general aviation engine and the fuel itself that is used.

 

Just suppose you were told to switch your vehicle from gas to diesel. Try to imagine all that was involved. Now add in the fact you have to meet Type Certificate requirements... oh yeah... an STC doesn't exist... good luck with that btw.

 

As I have mentioned previously I have more experience than the average pilot with auto gas STC engines.

 

Again, look at what all the other countries have moved to in the 100LL replacement race, JET A burning aircraft. We can't be the only country holding on to antiquated technology because there are a few people who feel entitled to making a refinery produce a limited supply of fuel. If you want them to continue, then pay the cost of it. Look how much the Reno air racers pay for their one off batch of 140 fuel. I'll be standing by with the paddles to get your heart started again.

 

You might not look down your nose so much if you owned an aircraft or were still trying to build hours for your current job.

 

I still do fly GA and do reviews every so often so I am not completely out of the loop.

 

Your I suggest you get an auto gas STC." comes across as very rude... it might be like if your car was "broken" and someone suggested you buy a good set of sneakers to get to work. This was assuming you could get actually purchase the sneakers.

 

I'm sorry you feel that way it was not my intent. It was a suggestion on what he could do to extend the service life of his aircraft engine.

 

Here are some good articles about the dilemma with 100LL:

http://www.generalav...re-hold-for-us/

http://www.generalav...osh/#more-67453

http://www.generalav...y-with-autogas/

[BMG50 9]

I STC,ed my C150 for mogas in August of last year...Also,last year,my friend STC,ed his 84 Skyhawk...I personally know of 4 0-200 engines that had stuck valves,(including mine,in flight) running 100LL...Mogas for me..Can,t afford 100LL ..5.92 a gallon at my airport.

[ZachLW 37]

I STC,ed my C150 for mogas in August of last year...Also,last year,my friend STC,ed his 84 Skyhawk...I personally know of 4 0-200 engines that had stuck valves,(including mine,in flight) running 100LL...Mogas for me..Can,t afford 100LL ..5.92 a gallon at my airport.

 

I never said stuck valves were exclusively a mogas issue. The long and short of it is those parts are less lubricated without the lead that's present in 100LL. Engineers have done the research.

[Phillip Gallagher 101]

Well, I feel your pain but the general public is not going to be very sympathetic with this issue. After all, how many people can afford to own their own aircraft? mmmmm...... 1%?

[BMG50 9]

I never said stuck valves were exclusively a mogas issue. The long and short of it is those parts are less lubricated without the lead that's present in 100LL. Engineers have done the research.

And my post was NOT in any way directed at,toward or even around any thing in your post....Just a statement of fact,as a stuck valve is a major concern of MINE...And I,ve read engineers reports,both pro and con..

 

http://www.autofuelstc.com/autofuelstc/pa/Start_Here.html

 

http://www.generalav...10-mogas-myths/

[Cessnaflyer 56]

I personally know of 4 0-200 engines that had stuck valves,(including mine,in flight) running 100LL

 

I've had that as well.

 

The problem is to do with the cowling cooling area more than the engine itself though. There really is actually too much area for air in there and it sticks to the top of cowling and out the back fire wall. Only if someone like LoPresti would make a Cessna single series cowling that directs the air over the top of the cylinders and then down through them it would be a much cooler running engine.

[BMG50 9]

Yep..I remember reading somewhere that Cessna had decreased the size and shape of the cowl inlets to help increase velocity..I also installed a CHT gauge to monitor head temps...

[Cessnaflyer 56]

I ran across another thing I find interesting. Here is the last company in the world producing tetraethyl lead.

 

http://www.innospecinc.com/

 

I'm sure this has something to do with the high cost of 100LL

[Ken_Stallings 2]

I ran across another thing I find interesting. Here is the last company in the world producing tetraethyl lead.

 

http://www.innospecinc.com/

 

I'm sure this has something to do with the high cost of 100LL

 

Yep, any time you allow something to be provided by just one source in the whole world, you've handed them a monopoly to exploit! They can charge pretty much whatever they feel like charging and get to inflate the dangers of their work.

 

Ken

[dmaher 0]

I've read that historically it was the Ethyl Corporation that manufactured tetraethyl lead (TEL), the corporation was formed for that purpose. The additive was branded as Ethyl. TEL is being phased out around the world now. It’s a shrinking market. So how do you maintain a profit as your phased out? I would suspect even the petroleum industry doesn’t want to be in the 100LL business now.

 

There's an Interesting side story, it was a scientist named Patterson http://en.wikipedia....meron_Patterson that discovered the high levels of atmospheric lead linked to the introduction of TEL. This lead was contaminating his experiments to measure the age of the earth :Nerd:

 

Is there an additive product you can mix with mogas after the pump?