License to travel

There’s nothing like traveling across this great country by air, giving us freedom and access to cities and towns, large and small, mountains and lakes, and everything in between.

Of course, we’re all planners, and flying to those destinations—near and far—is much more than hopping into the car, turning the key (or pushing the button these days), and you’re off. We plan and check everything, making sure all is in proper order before we rotate.

Checklists, weather, notams, regulations, performance charts—there is so much more to aviation than meets the eye of most observers.

The first thing many of us do (I know I do!) is to check the fuel. Do we have enough to get to our destination with the proper reserves? Is the fuel free of water and contaminants? Do we know our options on the other end? These are questions we ask ourselves before every single flight.

Some questions that are becoming more common—ones I’m hearing a lot—are quite troubling: Will there be fuel at my destination? More specifically, will there be fuel that’s safe for my airplane?

For years, we’ve taken fuel for granted. We’re just a truck away from being topped off. It’s not a thought or worry—a phone call to the FBO or a trip to self-serve, and we’re good to go. Really no different than fueling up our car.

But imagine a scenario in which it’s not that easy. A scenario in which there is a real worry about getting that fuel. Imagine a time when what we need to fly safely is simply not there.

Unfortunately, that story is being moved out of the fiction section, in areas such as Santa Clara County in California. You’ve all seen the headline: “100LL Banned at Reid-Hillview.” Other cities are trying to take similar—and equally shortsighted—action. Aircraft grounded, pilots turned away and needing to fly elsewhere for their fuel, and maybe flirting with just a bit too little fuel to make it there. It’s not just a nightmare scenario, it’s fact.

While flying around this great country and seeing our members where they live and fly, that is still the question I hear most: “Will I be able to get fuel, as I hear airports are banning what I need?” Members read in our pages and on our website that some airport sponsors are playing politics by banning 100LL before we’re able to safely and smartly transition to the unleaded solution that works for the entire GA piston fleet—more than 200,000 aircraft.

The good news is that this transition is happening. We’re making real progress. We have one fuel, GAMI’s G100UL, that has received supplemental type certificate approval for the vast majority of the piston fleet, another from Swift that is expected to gain STC approval this year, and two that are progressing well in the FAA’s PAFI (Piston Aviation Fuel Initiative) program, all with a keen watchful eye from the Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative, for which I serve as co-chair.

We don’t back just one specific fuel, but we’ll back any manufacturer that can help us reach our goal. And the more the better. More fuels on the market means more competition, which means better pricing for pilots.

With that progress, some other questions have been asked: “Haven’t we solved this? Don’t we have the fuel now?”

The answer is, sort of. Yes, we have an FAA-approved higher-octane unleaded fuel for the vast majority of the piston fleet, but it is now incumbent upon GAMI, or any future FAA approved 100-octane unleaded fuel manufacturer, to commercialize its fuel with engine manufacturers, refiners, distributors, FBOs, and all that entails. This includes producing to scale, having it efficiently and safely transported to airports across the country, and storing it at airports. That’s a lot of work, but efforts are underway.

I have often said that this is the most important issue we’ve faced in my time leading AOPA. What I can pledge to you is that we are working every day to cut through the bureaucracy and red tape to get this done safely and as quickly as possible.

To be honest, this has taken longer than anyone could have anticipated, but AOPA will not rest until there is an unleaded fuel waiting for you at your home airport and along your way to America’s amazing destinations. Blue skies!

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