NASCAR gets the Lead Out

It looks like General Aviation is going to be about the last group on earth to us leaded gasoline. The other big user of leaded gas, NASCAR, will begin using unleaded fuel at the end of February. Most piston airplanes use 100 octane low lead fuel commonly called 100LL or Avgas.

As less and less leaded gas is being produced the price should continue to rise. It seems that there will be a point when manufactures will not longer see it profitable to produce Avgas because of the small demand compared to other fuels. It seems now is the time to be looking for and testing alternatives to 100LL.

There is one group that has been testing an alternative fuel for some time now. They are developing an Aviation Grade Ethanol fuel. They have already flown a couple of thousand hours with out problems. Take a look at their website for more information, http://www.age85.org/index.htm.

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has been working on alternate fuels for years as well. Because of the work done by the EAA the Federal Aviation Administration has approved unleaded auto gas to be used in many different types of engines. You can see more information on this at http://www.aviationfuel.org.

This is a great start. However the major problem with both of these fuels alternatives is that you can not get them at most airports. Most people who use auto gas have to bring it to the airport themselves which is a big hassle. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for avgas and its alternatives.

Pilot Publications

I recently watched a 10 DVD set from Pilot Publications. They have taken a lot of non copyrighted aviation videos that were put together by the FAA and AOPA and assembled them into a great set.

The presentation on the DVD’s is not the best quality because they have been taken from older formats. However, the information is great and for only $34 for almost nine hours of instruction is a great deal. There website is http://www.pilotpublications.com/.

They have several other items available for sell. Check them out!

Learn From Others

A good pilot is always learning. Mistakes are a great way to learn, but I like to learn from the mistakes of others when I can.

The National Transportation Safety Board has a wealth of information on other people’s mistakes. You can search more than 140,000 aviation accidents. You can search by date, location, aircraft type, registration number or any of a number of criteria.

Go to the NTSB website at http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/query.asp.

Chicken Wings Aviation Cartoons

If you are looking for a laugh, take a look at http://www.chickenwingscomics.com/. They have some very funny and original aviation cartoons. Each Tuesday a new cartoon is published on their web site and you can also see them in Trade-A-Plane.

Chicken Wings also has a line of great aviation T-shirts and a book of their strips. You can see these items at http://www.pilotstore.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=2110&DEPARTMENT_ID=.

Have fun out there!