A World Without 100 Low Lead?

Here’s the bottom line: 100LL is going away.

“Don’t fool yourself,” warned Alan Klapmeier, co-founder of Cirrus Aircraft. “The industry hoped 100LL would survive, but it is going away.”

What does that mean for you?

That’s what the industry and federal agencies are trying to figure out now.

The demise of 100LL was a hot topic at this year’s AOPA Aviation Summit. It was discussed during the opening general session, as well as in several forums throughout the show. While a lot of uncertainty exists about the future of aviation fuel, one thing is certain: A change is coming.

“And we will be ready for it,” said Rhett Ross, president of Teledyne Continental Motors, who noted the company has tested “all different types of fuels.”

It’s also a top priority at Lycoming Engines, where officials warn that this is one of the most complicated issues facing GA today.

“Be wary of the five-minute sound bite,” said Michael Kraft, senior vice president. “We have just one shot at this, so we need to make the right decision.”

“Certification costs in time and money are such that the industry can only afford to make this change once,” added Earl Lawrence, vice president of industry and regulatory affairs for the Experimental Aircraft Association. “Whatever change we make, it better be right. We need to move deliberately.”

But why do we need to change?

A LITTLE HISTORY

Tetra-ethyl lead (TEL) had been added to fuel since the 1920s. After it was identified as a neurotoxin, it began to be phased out in the 1970s. In 1990, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated that it be gone by 1995. “It is considered one of the EPA’s biggest successes,” said Glenn Passavant, director of the EPA Nonroad Center.

Through lobbying, avgas was exempt from that mandatory phase out because the aviation industry said it just wasn’t ready.

“Avgas isn’t mogas — it’s anything but that. It is made in specialty batches and transported separately. It’s the only fuel with TEL added at the terminal,” he added, noting that it’s an important ingredient to increase octane, which prevents knocking. “It’s especially important to higher compression engines. When you need that octane, you need that octane.

That said, “20 years is a long time to not have a solution,” Passavant noted.

Time is officially running out. New national air quality standards are set to take effect soon, while the EPA is expected to make a finding on a three-year-old petition from the Friends of the Earth that claims avgas endangers the public health and welfare. “The petition requires the EPA to take action,” he said.

He estimates findings from the EPA’s investigation will result in rulemaking in the next 12 to 18 months, while the agency is looking at the “2016-2017 time frame” for a final solution. “There’s still a lot of work to be done,” he said.

MOVING ON

That’s an understatement. As the EPA investigation continues, the aviation industry is searching for an alternative fuel, as well as developing engines that will fly safely on that fuel, whatever it is.

The big concern for the engine manufacturers are not the new engines — they know they can develop those. It’s the existing fleet that cause for worry, according to TCM’s Ross.

Making sure the existing fleet isn’t grounded by the demise of 100LL is the focus of the Future Avgas Strategy & Transition Plan — known as FAST — which is being developed to determine how the industry will get from “where we are today to the new fuel,” Passavant said.

The plan, expected to be complete this year, studied the viability of potential fuels, including low-octane 87-89 mogas — which was determined to be unacceptable — mid-octane UL94, which would require a lot of engine modifications and result in a loss of performance, and high octane synthetic or biofuels, such as the one being developed by Swift Fuels.

“That is very promising,” he said. “It is the equivalent — or better — than 100LL, but it is still in development, so it’s not available. Also, there’s no infrastructure, so it’s a complete uncertainty.”

That’s why the industry keeps coming back to UL94, which would require “some minor changes” to how aircraft owners operate, as well as some modifications. Those modifications could range from something simple, like a belt-on ignition, with a price tag of $5,000 to $10,000, to a requirement for electronic controls, which come with price tags up to $30,000, according to Passavant. “There also may be a portion of the fleet that can’t be modified,” he warned.

UL94 would be the easiest replacement for 100LL as the distribution structure is in place and it can be “more easily certified, which is an important point,” TCM’s Ross said.

But will it be compatible with your engine?

“There’s been substantial testing in low-compression engines,” Ross said. “Some will need just minor modifications — some changes could be just a change to the POH. For most normally aspirated engines, if 100LL went away today, they could be converted.”

There are some engines, however, that will require substantial — read expensive — modifications.

The assessment of UL94 continues, especially in the areas of performance and certification. “It will affect operating cost and range,” Passavant said.

So what’s next? A lot of work for everyone involved.

A fleet impact assessment is needed, as well as a transition plan. Then the modifications will have to be developed and certified — and installed and paid for.

Meanwhile, the industry also has to continue developing new engines and new fuels.

All this so we can “keep ‘em flying,” said the EAA’s Lawrence.

“This is really, truly here,” he said. “I feel like the boy who cries wolf, because I’ve been saying this is coming for 20 years now. What’s different now is that the EPA and FAA say it is going away.”

What’s taken so long, he said, is that when one problem is solved — a fuel is identified that will get an engine to run safely — another pops up — like “how are we going to make it work in the distribution system?” he said. “There’s a lot bigger picture here. That’s what we’re struggling with.”

EAA’s position is that it will support as many alternative fuels as possible, to ensure that a safe fuel is available — and perhaps more important — affordable.

Another important point: “No one says we must go to a zero lead fuel,” said the EPA’s Passavant. “If there are going to be multi-billion dollar effects, there must be another way to do it. Let’s come up with a creative solution.”

Thinking about fuel is a whole new ball game for the FAA, added Mark Rumizen, a reciprocating engines/fuels specialist with the agency. “We had one fuel, historically, and airplanes and engines were designed and optimized to operate on 100LL. We didn’t have to think about fuel certification.”

When the EAA and others started developing autogas STCs, the emphasis was still on making the fuel fit the engines, he noted.

“But with the unleaded fuels and Swift Fuel, we’re working backwards,” he said. “It creates a challenge. We have to think differently.”

The FAA is depending on ASTM to develop fuel specifications, he said, adding the industry should look for a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in 2010.

Meanwhile, the FAA’s 2011 budget includes funding for research on alternative fuels for GA. The agency also is working with the X-Prize Foundation to develop a contest for alternative fuels. “That should help spur development in this area,” he said.

WHAT IS SWIFT FUEL?

Swift Enterprises, Ltd. is developing an unleaded 100LL replacement fuel, called 100SF, that exceeds the energy content and octane number of 100LL, according to company officials. The new fuel contains two chemical components that, when mixed together, meet or exceed most performance parameters of 100LL. Because of this, 100SF requires minimal engine modification to run in the current GA fleet.

100SF can be produced from any organic matter that contains sugar of cellulose, company officials add.

For more information: SwiftEnterprises.net.

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This article originally appeared in GA News

Janice Wood · November 29, 2009

Why would anyone want to be a missionary pilot? (Part 1)

I was involved in this area of aviation basically for 17 years.  Three in training at Moody Aviation (at that time in Elizabethton, TN, now in Spokane, WA), and 14 with Mission Aviation Fellowship (8 as pilot/mechanic and 6 as a stateside recruiter).  All that to say, this is based on my own experiences as well having talked with hundreds, I don’t know…maybe thousands of people over the years.

This posts title is one question that I heard a lot, maybe not always vocalized quite that literally, but you could hear it in the tone of other questions or statements like:

“How much do they pay you to do this?”
“Must be exciting, but isn’t your wife scared you’ll get killed?”
“What do your kids do for school?”
“Don’t your kids miss their friends here?”
“Aren’t there a lot of snakes?  I hate snakes.”
“Must be hard on your parents, you being so far away and all, them not being able to see their grandkids.”
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll crash in the jungle?”
“How do you communicate with those people down there?”
“Well you can always come back home and fly for the airlines couldn’t you?”
“How long do you think you do this before coming home?”

….they go on and on.  You get the idea.

First, my story.  How I got into this.

People are surprised to learn I was not in the military or an ex-airline pilot first of all.  That’s a popular misconception a lot of people have about this type flying.

I was actually a businessman in Atlanta, Georgia, doing fairly well. We lived in a nice swim& tennis subdivision in suburban Atlanta.

I was in my early thirties and had come to know Jesus Christ as Savior in my late twenties (aka “became a Christian”).  Then for the next several years I began to study what the Bible actually had to say about life and how to live it versus what I thought I knew. Simply put, I began to realize that we are not put here for our own pleasures.

We are put here for many reasons, and while self fulfillment of your God given abilities is not wrong, it’s at best only one of a myriad of reasons.  Others are: help people, learn to love the unlovely, go out of your way for others as a way of life and not for a pat on the back, and so on.  What I discovered that my specific area of abilities were more in the area of service to others.  Some are better at teaching, others and giving of their resources, others are very insightful, others encouragers.  But my gifts fell into the area of serving mainly.

So at the age of 32 or so I began searching for ways to serve people possibly as a way of life.  But let me be clear, it wasn’t a call to be in ministry or let alone be a missionary.  No I was just looking to get involved with a company, or organization where I could put my serving skills to work  as a layman or maybe even full-time in Atlanta.

“What about talents?” you may ask.  That’s different.  Talents (artist, speaker, mechanic, athlete, etc.) are useful in the area you are gifted in (serving, teaching, giving, etc).  Don’t confuse the two.

My talents were in the creative and speaking realm.  My college degree was in Communications with a minor in graphic arts.  That about says it all.

So I began looking into a lot of exciting opportunities.  One was with a Christian film maker in Atlanta, another with the Walk Through the Bible folks, another was just working with a successful Christian owned business. But they and many others all fell through over a period of two years.

Having actually given up on that concept I decided to just be a witness where I worked and that’s be that.

Then one day I was making marketing calls to potential clients and called Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.  You see at the time I worked for a company that brokered jet fuel and avgas (and I wasn’t even a pilot then).  I had seen their flight school (Moody Aviation) listed, that they had a number of aircraft  and wanted to sell them fuel for their fleet.  Logical thought.

One thing led to another. That was in 1989.  In 1990 our family found ourselves in Elizabethton, TN enrolled at Moody Aviation. I was there for the next three years (1990-93) getting my commercial pilots license, instrument rating and the airframe & powerplant mechanics license.  I graduated in 1993 and joined Mission Aviation Fellowship (aka MAF) that same year. One year after that (1994) we were in San Jose, Costa Rica studying Spanish for one year before eventually arriving to our base of operations, Shell, Ecuador in 1995.  I was forty.

I hope I captured the speed at which this all happened.  It was a whirlwind indeed.

Training to be a missionary pilot is more than stick & rudder

Doors opened to Moody Aviation almost effortlessly it appears to many.  However the training was hard and we had our days there when we asked ourselves “What have we gotten ourselves into?” .  God knew we needed training in more ways than one: Learning that God is faithful and to trust Him completely even when it hurts a little, maybe even a lot.  Examples?  My mother died while at Moody after a month in ICU.  My sister became terminally ill during that time. My wife had a miscarriage.

But while these situations were heart wrenching, we also saw God work so many incredible miracles.  Let me give one example.

The first winter there was brutal to a southern boy like me.  We were cold most of the time it seemed with only a small wooden stove for heat.

I had decided we would use a credit card and buy a nicer, bigger wood stove.  They ran about $500.

Then one day a I got a call from a recent Moody Aviation grad who said someone had told him I was looking for a bigger wood stove and that he had an older one that just needed a little work.  So I went to look at it and was surprised at what good shape it was in.  The guy just gave it to me saying someone had given it to him (Paying it forward before paying it forward was cool).  But here’s the really cool part.  Read on…

So I bring the stove home after making a few repairs in the shop at Moody, set it up, and realize, now I need a lot of wood.

The next day while I am at Moody Aviation, my wife gets a knock on the door.  It was a tree trimming foreman working with a crew on our street.  The city was cutting down all of the old Maples and Oaks on our street.  He asked if he could use our phone.

Noticing the stove he asked, “You all need wood for that stove?”

“Yes!” Trish said.

The next thing she knew he had measured the firebox and said, “I’ll have my crew cut all these trees on your street up the right size for your stove”.

That was eight cords of wood neatly stacked in front of my house and that supply lasted us nearly the next two years.

Total cost for the new wood stove and two years of wood: ZERO!

That’s how I’ve seen God work in the lives of others as well.

But when you experience this first hand, it should cause a chill to run down your back on the one hand and smile come on your face on the other.

God is perfect.  His plans are perfect.  Sometimes we just tend to want to do it our own way and frankly…. we just slow things down.

Training to be a missionary pilot is more than stick & rudder.  It is a family affair and everyone has to be on board and God will use the flight and maintenance curriculum yes to prepare you technically, but as importantly, as a backdrop for His greater training in faithfulness and for His greater purpose.

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In Part 2: Discussing the role of the missionary pilot.  If you want to be a missionary pilot just because you like to fly and want to use your skills for God, please think again.

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