Unforecast headwinds and other weather delays mean that you have reached the small, uncontrolled field well into evening. The traditional FBO has long since closed for the day. In order to reach the next day's destination before weather moves in there, you must get refueled and launched by first light. With raised hopes you scan the ramp to see a lighted fuel island. You taxi up and realize that this airport has a feature that is becoming more and more common: 24-hour self-fueling.
So you slide your airplane alongside the pump, hop out, and whisk your credit card through the reader. In a matter of minutes, you're refueled and safely secured in the transient parking tiedown. The wait for the taxi into town isn't any shorter than usual, but you're secure in the knowledge that when you get to the airport before dawn the next morning, the airplane will be ready to go.
Such a scenario, while admittedly not the norm for general-aviation flyers, is common enough to make self-fueling a real blessing to many pilots. The freedom from having to refuel during normal business hours can significantly reduce delays on cross-country trips, particularly during the off season when many FBOs have shortened hours. (Yes, you could plan your stops for major metropolitan airports, where the fuelers never sleep. But, as Monty Python is wont to say, where's the pleasure in that?)
Self-fueling, the concept of having an unmanned fuel pump available for general use, thanks to the now-ubiquitous credit-card reader, didn't come out of the blue. Self-service has been around for a long time, but it's been only in the last decade that the do-it-yourself-fuel service has made a serious impression on airport businesses. At last count, there were 417 airports with self-fueling facilities in AOPA's Airport Directory, represented by all the major refiners and many independents.
Yet this growth has not been without controversy. "When it started," says Jill Bogen, head of Phillips Petroleum's general aviation division, "there were predictions that self-fueling would take over the FBO business." Indeed, the hue and cry from FBO owners, seeing the most profitable part of the business being taken from them, was substantial. In some areas, the local airport authority displayed intent to give the fueling concession to the self-fueling contractors, or to take it over completely, and leave the FBO out of the loop. Bear in mind that for many FBOs, fuel sales are the number-one money maker.
But unlike the dire futuristic predictions in Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the self-fueling issue has not had a profound impact on the landscape. What was predicted to be an industry-wide phenomenon has largely turned into a matter of convenience. "We have found that self-fueling facilities are appearing where there is a need for them, not necessarily as replacements for existing FBOs," says Bogen.
Geoff Howes, Air BP's manager of general aviation, says, "It is our plan to work closely with branded FBOs to determine if a self-fueling facility will meet the needs of the FBO and the customer. Based on our experiences on the world avgas market, we think that self-fueling will continue to grow in popularity mainly on the strength of its convenience." In agreement is AOPA's regional representative for California, Jack Kemmerly, "There are a lot of airports with self-serve fuel that might not have fuel at all without it."
And yet many an outlying airport that would benefit from a self-fueling station may never get one. Both local and federal regulations for storing and dispensing fuel are quite rigorous. Many municipalities have run into trouble with the local fire marshals over the issues of safety and potential spillage. Presumably the trained fuelers will know what to do, but the pilot is expected to be ignorant.
Still, industry experts point out that in the coming years there are likely to be more airports with self-fueling, not fewer. A particular impetus for the move is a new set of regulations on underground tanks that is set to take effect in December 1998. According to the National Air Transportation Association, more than half of its members either don't know whether they will be able to comply with the 1998 regs or are certain they will not.
One of the major pushes for self-serve fueling included the promise of lower prices. Has this happened? Based on a thumbnail survey, the answer is a solid maybe. In some locations, the self-serve prices are significantly lower than for nearby full-service FBOs, while in remote areas, particularly when the self-serve is the only game in town, the prices are more often in line with the bring-it-to-you facilities. Bear in mind that as with any commodity, the price of fuel is changing all the time.
Given that you might be forced to use one of these self-serve stations on a cross-country flight, it's worth discussing some of the operational considerations. According to Doug Carr, a government and industry specialist for NATA, "You should be aware of the overall condition of the self-fueling equipment. If it appears that it has not been maintained, or even kept reasonably clean, what assurance do you have that the fuel is of good quality?" Indeed, you should expect to see tidy, though not necessarily pristine, equipment, with hoses that are not rotted. You should, obviously, never see the nozzle floating in a sea of mud. Admittedly, the outward condition of the fueling rig may not be your only indication of the quality of the fuel, but if you have no other options, a ramshackle affair should lead you to treat the fuel with caution.
Another caution involves the hose itself. According to Carr, it's possible for a significant amount of water to linger in the hose, particularly if there's no means of sealing the nozzle. Because it's not good form to wash down the ramp with 100LL to get the water out, you are faced with two options: Let someone else fuel first and take the water, or be doubly sure that any water you might have put into your aircraft is thoroughly drained out. Score one for the boys in the truck.
Look around for those little things that you take for granted at home. For you high-wing types, is there a ladder? Are there paper towels to help clean up a minor dribbling of fuel from the wing, and is there a proper place to put this now-hazardous trash? Can you purchase oil? (Most of these unattended self-fueling sites lack a method of buying engine oil. It's good practice to take some in the airplane if you think you'll be out long enough to need it — besides, you can buy it by the case at home and save money.)
Although line personnel usually talk in terms of grounding your airplane to the fueling source, the actual terminology is bonding. This means that you are equalizing the fueler and the airplane electrically so that there's no static electricity to jump between the nozzle tip and the airframe and create a fire. When you pull up and park, you must still attach a bonding wire to the airframe to accomplish the same thing. Pick an unpainted metal part of the airframe — most people use the exhaust stacks — and make sure that the alligator clip makes good contact. For an added measure of safety, before opening the fuel caps, touch the nozzle to the airframe to make sure that you have discharged any static electricity. Then open the fuel caps and fill away.
While fueling, consider some safety precautions. Know where the emergency shut-off for the pump is located. These pumps should have the button prominently marked; if there's a case of a runaway nozzle or break in the hose, be ready to sprint for the shut-off. Are there fire extinguishers around? Do you know how to use them? (A simple acronym to remember the basics is pass. Pull the pin; aim; squeeze the trigger; and sweep across the base of the fire. Don't stop until you're sure the fire is out.)
Though the fear of fire looms large in the human psyche, many pilots we've talked with claim as much apprehension about operating the credit-card reader at these facilities. While it's true that the early systems could have fended off a safecracker, the newer iterations are, as the programmers like to say, much more user-friendly. Some systems, in an attempt to simplify tracking of fuel sales to individual airplanes, require pilots to enter the airplane's tail number. This is a daunting task with nothing more than a simple keypad. Many of the newer systems depend upon credit-card tracking to determine who bought what should there be a problem with the fuel.
So just as the scene along most highways in America has evolved from the manned "check your oil?" full-service stations to pump-your-own appendages to snack bars, so too is the aviation landscape changing. Nobody predicts the end of the FBO — far from it, because as the market shrinks and the players diminish in number, each remaining FBO becomes ever more vitally important. Instead, what many industry watchers predict is a gradual move from underground storage and fuel delivered solely by trucks to manned islands that can be hybrids — full-service during the day and self-serve at night. Which would suit the late-arriving, early departing pilots just fine.
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