What fuel is best to use?

[Chris Preston]

'Afternoon All,

Many Thanks for your insight and suggestions with this topic - it's pretty much what we thought, but it's always nice to get confirmation from those who have more experience.

Cheers,

Chris - In Victoria, BC

[Robert Bergeron]

For what it is worth , there is one alternative to useless, ethanol tainted, low quality gasoline : Avgas . It's rating is 100 Octane but it contains lead , high altitude additives and it is vapour lock proof . Use it in all my HMV ´s . It stays fresh , does not stale , needs no additives and the valve stems are lubricated. The engines start any time of year , any temperature even after sitting idle for 6-7 and in one case even 9 months. ... Added bonus it is blue , smells nice and there is no road tax....It sells for around $1.75 -$2 a litre . May be illegal , don't know , and it's no excuse. Stupid idea to add Ethanol to gasoline in the first place , it ruins expensive equipment and adds maintenance costs and troubles . It will be phased out soon ( years ) so use it while you can...but it is difficult to procure if you don't own a plane .When traveling i use Premium unleaded Shell V Power. Reputedly it does not contain ethanol . There i said it. Read it before i delete it . Cheers and very best good luck to all.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Ethanol only exists because of (misguided) government requirements and subsidies. It takes more energy (usually from fossil fuels) to make a litre of ethanol than a litre ethanol is capable of producing. Throw in the destruction of parts and equipment and it's really dumb product.

[David Dunlop]

Robert. Interesting comments on AVGAS.

In the past 10 years, a couple of B-17's have dropped by at the local aviation museum for visits. Sally B was one, I cannot recall the other at the moment. In chatting with both crews about the rising costs of gas and oil and the availability of parts these days I was surprised by their comments. Both stated their was still enough interest and support from the general public to continue funding operating expenses each year with no problem. Also, there are apparently enough spare parts sources still around to keep the existing global fleet of B-17's flying for many decades to come.

What had both groups a bit nervous about the long term future of flying vintage piston powered military aircraft, was the slow and steady decline in octane rating for avgas. Something which I had not thought of at all. These great engines can still run on today's avgas, but they are not able to produce the power levels they were designed for during the war. With that handicap, there performance is a lot less, which directly affects what the aircraft can do in certain flight situations. Both crews felt that any further decline in octane ratings may soon result in these aircraft no longer able to fly/perform safely.

I could be wrong, but I think wartime avgas ratings were up around 130 to 140. When I was a kid. BA Oil sold premium automotive gas with a rating of 98. Things have definitely changed.

David

[Phil Waterman]

Hi David

One of the guya in our local MV club is a aviation mechanic, for couple of years he was working on restoring a Supper G Constellation for Lufftansa one of the issues they had already reallized that they would have to derate the engines because of the availablity of high octane AVGAS just isnt there any more. Major impact was on takeoff weights and throttle settings.

Cheers Phil

On the topic of Ethanol in todays fuel one of the guys in our club just had a problem with brand new fuel injected rated hose going soft on the first tank of gas. Cause is still unknown was it E85 fuel, or fuel with much higher ethanol than the pump rated amount. Or was it miss market fuel line.

[Robert Bergeron]

David/ Phil , you are both right on the spot with the Avgas issue for high compression super-charged engines . My engine is a low compression version and it used to thrive on 80-87 Octane leaded Avgas ( Red) . It contained four times less lead than today's 100 LL ( Low lead) Avgas ( Blue ) . Warbirds used to run in 100-130 Octane Avgas ( Green ) . Those were the days ! Still, for HMV's 100 LL Avgas mixed 75-25 with Shell V Power Super Unleaded with no Ethanol crap is the best way to go : Lead to lubricate the valves , NO vapour lock and long long lasting in the tanks. Works perfect in my Continental C-145 2H air cooled windmill . Cheers . Thanks for adding to the discussion .

[Harry Moon]

In addition to the destructive and counterproductive effects of Ethanol add soy based wiring! It seams that modern wiring uses soy derivatives to reduce the content of oil. It is also very tasty and attractive to rats mice squirrels and attracts them to eating your wiring. so when that check engine light comes on look for a rats nest under the hood, dash trunk or anywhere they fit. Both my van and our car got infested, now in addition to copious amounts of roundup I stock rat and other poisons and have got ahead of them. get infested in my neighborhood every time they knock down another house