Fri, Nov 05, 2021
Industry Groups Say Funding Needed for Unleaded Avgas
The EAA is among other industry parties engaged in a request to Congress to increase the level of government support and funding for sustainable, alternative aviation fuels.
Before Congress finalizes funding allocations for fiscal year 2022, the groups have asked the Appropriations Committee for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) in the Senate and House of Representatives to boost funding for the Alternative Fuels for General Aviation program.
The program is hoped to eventually create a functional, safe, certifiable, unleaded aviation fuel for use fleet-wide. The continued presence of leaded gasoline for piston-engined aircraft has been a vulnerable pressure point for local activists looking to shut down general aviation operations within their vicinity. Friction between new homeowners and airports is an increasingly common occurrence, often the result of ever-expanding suburban sprawl abutting vintage airfields originally placed far away from cities. Citing the environmental and health aspects of lead being dropped overhead (often far below the minimum levels to cause harm), activists have seen limited successes in banning AvGas, and by extension, small aircraft from their local aerodrome.
Projects to create a viable unleaded fuel have too often been funded entirely out of pocket by private entities in the industry, like GAMI’s high-octane avgas replacement. Government support for such initiatives would not only defray the considerable costs of certification, development, and iteration, but would signal to bureaucratic stakeholders that the project has the interest and investment of regulators. As seen in GAMI’s path to bring their G100UL to market, regulators have sometimes added undue burden and delay to the process, something that would likely be reduced with appointed, vested government managers familiar with the project. It remains to be seen whether the industry will get its wish, but the communal interest in healthier air and “greener” transportation could make the apportion a shoe-in.
Signees to the letter to Congress include EAA, GAMA, HAI, NATA, and NBAA, among others.
More News
Hold Procedure A predetermined maneuver which keeps aircraft within a specified airspace while awaiting further clearance from air traffic control. Also used during ground operatio>[...]
Altitude Readout An aircraft’s altitude, transmitted via the Mode C transponder feature, that is visually displayed in 100-foot increments on a radar scope having readout cap>[...]
Aero Linx: European Hang Gliding and Paragliding Union (EHPU) The general aim of the EHPU is to promote and protect hang gliding and paragliding in Europe. In order to achieve this>[...]
Also: Skydio Chief, Uncle Sam Sues, Dash 7 magniX, OR UAS Accelerator US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall was given a turn around the patch in the 'X-62A Variable In-flight>[...]
"The need for innovation at speed and scale is greater than ever. The X-62A VISTA is a crucial platform in our efforts to develop, test and integrate AI, as well as to establish AI>[...]