AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014 - 4

PRESIDENT'S POSITION

One step closer to reality

MARK BAKER
AOPA President and CEO

Moving toward a fuel-changed future

AOPA PRESIDENT

Mark Baker flies
regularly around
the country for
business and
pleasure.

WE'VE BEEN TALKING about the need to find an unleaded
replacement for avgas since the United States began
phasing out leaded fuels in the early 1970s. Back then
we enjoyed economies of scale, as the military and even
airlines were big consumers of avgas. Today, that's no
longer true, and demand has fallen while prices have
gone up. But there's much more to this issue than nostalgia for lower fuel prices, and recent developments in
the hunt for an unleaded replacement fuel have brought
it one big step closer to reality.
On July 1, the FAA closed the window to submit
candidate fuels for testing. That's a major milestone
because it means we're moving swiftly from asking "Can
it work?" to asking "How well does it work?" Nine fuels
were submitted by five different groups from around
the world, including Afton Chemical Company; Avgas
LLC; Shell; Swift Fuels; and a consortium made up of BP,
TOTAL, and Hjelmco (see "Briefing," page 28).
Now the FAA will evaluate each proposal as part
of its Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative, or PAFI. PAFI's
mission is to identify, select, and provide fleetwide certification for fuels determined to have the lowest impact
on the general aviation fleet. Its evaluation process will
focus on each fuel's production and distribution infrastructure, toxicology, and cost of aircraft operations.
The idea is to identify any showstoppers before the nitty
gritty of lab testing begins. Initial testing of the most
promising fuels would start in September. The fuels
that show the most promise in lab testing will go on to
full-scale testing in aircraft and engines-and the producers of those fuels each will need to provide 10,000
gallons for the task.
To those watching from the outside, this may appear
to signal movement from "talking about it" to "doing
something about it." But the truth is that behind the
scenes many people have been very busy doing something about the future of aviation fuel, including key
members of our staff here at AOPA.
AOPA has been deeply involved in this process from
the very beginning. We've had a seat at the table at every
step along the way. These days we're an important part
of the PAFI steering group, which also includes the
FAA, the American Petroleum Institute, EAA, GAMA,
NATA, and NBAA. PAFI, in turn, grew out of earlier initiatives, including the GA Avgas Coalition and the FAA's
Unleaded Aviation Transition Aviation Rulemaking
Committee.

4 | AOPA PILOT September 2014

AOPA's role has been to advocate for the GA community. That means making sure everyone involved
recognizes the needs of GA users and that the ultimate
solution effectively addresses those needs. It also means
making sure there's an adequate supply of 100LL available while the search for a replacement continues.
Any replacement fuel must have a minimal impact
on the existing fleet-in other words, it should work in
your airplane with as few changes as possible. We've
also stressed that safety and performance cannot be
compromised by the move to a new fuel. And we've
emphasized that how the fuel affects the cost to operate an aircraft is critically important, too.
I know some of you will balk at that last idea, especially when you look at your most recent avgas receipt.
I wish I could promise that any replacement fuel would
be less expensive than avgas because I know just how
important the price of fuel is to our members. But the
truth is that no matter how we look at it, the ultimate
price of a replacement fuel depends on many factors
that lie far beyond our control. So while we can't dictate
fuel prices, we can work with the FAA and industry to
make sure that operating cost is a prominent part of the
equation in the hunt for a replacement fuel.
Even though this has been in the works for many
years, it's still early days in some ways. There's much
more to be done before we have one or more viable
replacement fuels, but we've taken some big steps down
the road, and that's worth celebrating. Momentum is
building and we're on our way to achieving the FAA's
goal of having one or more replacements for avgas by
2018. Congress is on board, too, providing $6 million to
support this program for the 2014 fiscal year. And, both
the U.S. House and Senate appropriations committees
have proposed another $6 million in funding for 2015.
That's great news for pilots and aircraft owners,
and we've begun to hear from shops that are getting
orders for new and remanufactured engines as owners gain confidence that we'll have a viable replacement
for 100LL relatively soon. The future, while never certain, looks bright.
Inevitably, there are many variables in a process as
complex as this. But there's one thing you can count on-
AOPA will keep your needs front and center at every
step along the way.
AOPA
EMAIL mark@aopa.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014

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