While the FAA and the oil industry plod along toward an eventual replacement for 100LL, one alternative persists like a large elephant squatting uncomfortably on the conference room table: mogas. We know more owners, desperate for at least some kind of clarity, are seriously considering it as an option. Moreover, the list of airplanes that can burn mogas is longer than you might imagine and likely to grow. Last year, Lycoming quietly announced that it had approved its 180-HP parallel-valve O-360 series for use with a specific grade of mogas. Does this mean the company is bullish on mogas as an alternative to a 100-octane equivalent? Not really. The company is just responding to market realities. In other parts of the world-Europe and Asia, mainly-mogas is becoming a fuel of choice because avgas and the infrastructure to dispense it isn’t available. And if it is, the cost Delta between avgas and mogas is greater than it is in the U.S.
A Mogas Swell?
We know more owners are looking at mogas as an alternative because were hearing from them. The list of engines and airframes approved for mogas is long and likely to grow modestly. Even some relatively high-performance aircraft such as some Bonanza models and Cessna 182s are approved for automotive fuel. Yet supply and distribution remain a problem. According to AirNavs monthly surveys, about 109 airports have mogas available, although the number is probably somewhat higher. That represents only 3 percent marketshare, a number too tiny to represent much volume.
But its also inching upward as FBOs take a second look at putting in the tankage necessary to dispense mogas. U-Fuel, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of self-dispensing fuel systems, is marketing modular pump products under the SportFuel brand. Its also helping buyers of these systems find high-octane, ethanol-free premium gasoline, which some FBOs who already have mogas pumps worry about finding reliably.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 12 percent of U.S.-refined gasoline is non-reformulated fuel and/or not blended with ethanol. Given that large volume, its not clear why non-ethanol fuel isn’t more easily available at distribution terminals, but our checks with FBOs who carry mogas reveal an undercurrent of concern about supply.
U-Fuel helps its customers find sources of supply, but it doesnt intervene as a third