Cross Country Trips

[Tfoster100]

Hello all. New member here - I’ve been reading and learning what I can about the KitFox and other high wings to build. Tried searching for this answer but didn’t see anything recently.

My question is around planning a long distance trip or two and the availability of Mogas on airport. From looking at the Mogas finder websites it seems there are limited airports with onsite Mogas and would prefer not to burn 100ll. How practical is it to plan trips just including Mogas selling airports? Or do most folks just burn 100ll on cross country type trips when they have to.

Are there good websites or blogs on planning something like these type trips.

Thanks

[Rodney]

I love flying long cross country trips in my Fox. On the subject of 100LL, I just resign myself to looking for the lowest cost airports near my route of flight that sell 100LL.

The only drawback is changing oil n filter at 25 hours and maybe pulling the plugs for a good cleaning.

At home, I bought a 100 gallon tank n use 91 octane w/o any ethanol, mixed with a little 100LL. Put it in the back of my pickup, so it is easy to pump it into my airplane.

For sure, DO NOT EVER USE ANY ETHANOL gas in a Kitfox.

My 912S runs ok on 100LL, better n cleaner on 91, but I've quit looking for mogas on long trips. It's just mostly not available.

Regards
Rodney

[Av8r_Sed]

Swift Fuels UL94 is a good choice where available. Availability is spreading from the Midwest out. http://swiftfuels.com/ul94-map/

[Dave S]

I keep a jug of TCP (decalin) in the back when on CX. Mostly can never find UL fuel out there, but more Swift Fuel locations are starting to show up.



Another thing to remember is Rotax advises up to 25% 100LL should not be a problem.


I have no empirical evidence that the Decalin does anything; but urban legends and tribal knowledge seem to indicate it helps keeps the lead crud in suspension in the oil to be gotten rid of and it seems to have no negative effects.


We have one FBO on the home field running rotaxes on 100% 100LL. I guess they just do the frequent oil changes and plug changes.


We mostly run corn free autogas and never have dirty plugs.

[aviator79]

I believe Stick and Rudder runs 100% 100LL with Decalin as well. It was clear while I was there that Paul takes meticulous car of his equipment.

[Delta Whisky]

I used Decalin in my RV-6 (Lycoming) for over 600 hours and swear by it. It drastically reduced the amount of "lead balls" and lead build up on the tops of the piston. I never experienced a fouled plug after starting to use it and the plugs were pretty close to "beautiful" at condition inspection - and the build up on the pistons slowly disappeared over the years. It works because it changes the chemistry of the tetra ethyl lead in the fuel during the combustion process. From the manufacture's website: Some white deposits may be seen on the plugs and in the exhaust pipe during use; this is normal with RunUp since the lead in the fuel is being converted to non conductive lead phosphate. When no additive is used, lead oxide is formed. It is lead oxide which causes plugs to misfire due to its partial conductivity shorting out the plug. In addition, lead oxide tends to form in large clumps or clinkers whereas the lead phosphate is crumbly and if any is left behind in the combustion chamber it deposits in even layers.



Of course, your mileage my vary and I'd do more research before using it in a engine with 02 sensors.

[efwd]

That is interesting. Doesn't a Lycoming need the lead? Thought that's why everybody has 100LL on the airport fuel pump.

[jrevens]

That is interesting. Doesn't a Lycoming need the lead? Thought that's why everybody has 100LL on the airport fuel pump.


No, the Lycoming doesn't need the lead. The lead is necessary to give the fuel certain needed characteristics - it's principally an octane booster. With older internal combustion engines the lead was helpful also to lubricate valve stems, but not with more modern engines having sodium-filled valves for instance (to transfer heat more readily and keep the valve stems cooler), etc. Metallurgy, design, and especially lubricants have all improved over the years.

[Rodney]

This post got me to thinking about how I blend fuels.

Found a neat octane calculator:

http://www.motorsportsracingfuels.com/OctaneCalculator.html

Now, I can get my mogas without any alcohol, so that really helps.

For a 93 Octane blend I should mix 63.6 gallons of 89 and 36.4 gallons of 100LL. Right now, that would make my blended fuel cost about $3.41 per gallon. Thats about a dollar less than 100LL at our airport. It's not much, but it does help.

Also, Swift Fuels has a map online to show you where their 94 Octane gas is available. https://swiftfuels.com/ul94-map

For those of you that know about the subject of alternative fuel, AvWeb reports that Swift has pulled out of the PAFI program. They, and Shell were, or are, the two fuels the FAA is/was testing.

So is this a David vrs Goliath situation? Politics???

I know it's a very complicated subject, but anyone really know whats going on??

Regards
Rodney

[David47]

Agree with John. I’m installing the Lycoming 0-233 in my build and this engine can run on 100LL avgas or autogas.

[Tfoster100]

That looks like a good engine option. Will have to look into that. Nice to have that fuel flexibility and the Lycoming pedigree.