E10 Unleaded Auto-Gas: My Big Mistake as LSA Owner!

[SportPilot]

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[Nomore767]

Harold, what airport are you moving to? Were you able to get a fully enclosed hanger?

Sorry about that. who the heck is Harold?

There was King Harold (no relation) who was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 as the Conqueror William of Normandy invaded England. Legend has it that Harold was killed with an arrow in his eye.

None of this has to do with Light Sport. Sorry.

[Wm.Ince]

Harold, what airport are you moving to? Were you able to get a fully enclosed hanger?

Sorry about that. who the heck is Harold

There was King Harold (no relation) who was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 as the Conqueror William of Normandy invaded England. Legend has it that Harold was killed with an arrow in his eye.
None of this has to do with Light Sport. Sorry.

Military History major?

[drdehave]

The "father" of this thread, last said: "I likely won't find anything that gross, but it's worth a look, anyway."

Actually, and to my dismay, I did find something rather shocking and inexplicable in the main gas tank! (No, not a wallet and IDs from some Czech Republic guy!) And if I can get a GoPro camera down in there tomorrow, on a stick or something, I will show it to you. Stand by...

[FastEddieB]

I can only imagine...

[drdehave]

Eddie pretty much nailed it: "The Blob!" When I first saw it, I was immediately resigned that I had indeed "found the E10 smoking gun" and that my Sting Sport was effectively dead, soon to be rotting in the in-field down at Lodi, CA airport, next to the dead Sting I learned to fly in.

Actually, 'the blob' was several blobs and a several-inch-long blob-like line of.....resin!!! It was deep down in the dry (translucent and couldn't be seen with gas in there) tank and could just barely be seen with a flashlight, while looking through the tank neck. (The "scope" I used was of marginal clarity and I couldn't get a GoPro camera down in there.) I figured it was going to be like the honey I put in my morning coffee. So I taped some cotton swabs on a stiff piece of wire and stuck it in there for a sample; but the swabs came back up clean! So, I just started poking the blobs with the wire and to my surprise discovered they were rock hard. Rock-hard resin! What the H?

No way, I thought, were those Czech boys that sloppy when they built her. After all, resin equals weight--and money--you know? No way did the E10 pull out all my resin and then it re-hardened (or could it?). Then, driving home from the airport to tell the wife our monthly expenses would soon be dropping dramatically, a light bulb went off. I knew what that resin had to be. Two+ years ago we were doing some heavy maintenance on the front of the airplane (not a gas-tank issue) when we discovered the fore hull bulkhead (fore and aft bulkheads form the main gas tank) leaking a small amount of fuel from a crack or hole we knew was there, but couldn't find. And we didn't want to attempt a repair from inside the gas tank (very difficult and most likely impossible). So we instead sloshed some Caswell Gas Tank Sealer (2-part epoxy) around on the outside of the fore leaking bulkhead. And that seemed to take care of the gas leak. Sense where this is headed yet? Exactly,...that Tank Sealer must have migrated through the hole or crack into the tank--before it hardened!

So, I think that may take care of 'the blob' issue, unless one of you brains out there have another theory about how the E10 could have made all those hard resin blobs. But where does that leave me on the 'E10 may be bad for the Sting Sports' composite gas tanks' issue? I'm afraid I'm back to square one. I don't have any convincing evidence that it's harmful--or not. But I am still getting the daily flakes and beads of resin in the sumped gas--although seemingly fewer that before, when she was on the E10.

For now, I think I'm going to keep watching, monitoring, and using the Pure Gas. She's already flown me 1,500 hours. Maybe there's another 500 left in her before the boneyard.

I'm OUT, until there is more breaking news on the story.

[SportPilot]

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[Wm.Ince]

. . . "She's already flown me 1,500 hours. Maybe there's another 500 left in her before the boneyard." . . .

Just out of curiosity, after you fly off that last 500 hours (which won't take you long at the rate you are going), then what? New engine, rebuild engine, trade airplane?

[drdehave]

1. That blob (Caswell Gas Tank Repair, if that's what it is) is bonded to the inside of the tank. There is NO way it is coming off and out. And I do not believe there is ANY practicable way to "swish" (which is the way you apply it) Gas Tank Repair around in the main tank, anyway, because of the way it is built (i.e., the hull is the tank).

2. If the hull holds together okay and is not truly affected by the E10 (and God forbid, weakened or damaged by it), I intend to put a brand new engine on and sell the old one for re-build. I was considering a re-build myself, since my mechanic (from the UK, originally) is authorized by Rotax to rebuild and "zero" (hours) it, but I would feel better with a factory-new engine. However, until that time, once I get to 2,000 hours, I will continue going 100 hours at a time, on "condition."

[bottleworks]

(I'm gone. Everything deleted! Can't stand the ignorant data spread here).

[drseti]

Geez, guys, I take a week off the forums to do an annual inspection, and come back to political bickering. Is this what happens when the parents are away? Am I going to have to ground you all?

[FastEddieB]

Geez, guys, I take a week off the forums to do an annual inspection, and come back to political bickering.

It's Obama's fault!

[drdehave]

I take it, you're an LSRM?

Negative. Anytime I say "We..." I'm talking about one of my four mechanics and me. Four? Yep! I find that every one has his strengths and weaknesses, plus, I need such a cadre to be able to get things done fast.

[SportPilot]

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[drdehave]

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Guys:

An extended period of no-fly wind finally subsided this morning and I flew my airplane to the FAA-authorized composite repair station at Clear Lake, CA (K1O2). Rick Anderson, of Yankee Composites, confirmed what I've been suspecting all along. Yes, those beads and flakes I've been seeing in the sump gas (I took him a big sample) ARE definitely resin! Yes, the main tank is slowly delaminating. Yes, it is only a matter of time until the tank starts leaking through the hull, or elsewhere. Yes, the factory did a real sloppy job of sealing up the interior of that tank and that may be a big part of the problem. The primary threat from all the resin being pulled out, is that it could clog up the gascolator and "turn the lights out" whilst flying. And that is why I have long-been "sumping" liberally every morning into a glass, wide-mouth mason jar, until no more resin appears, before my first flight of the day.

The preliminary repair estimate is $2,500 and giving up the use of my airplane for 2 weeks. Everything on the floor immediately in front of the seats will need to be removed, then a rectangular hole can be cut into the top of the tank, allowing the interior to be accessed, refinished and sealed.

This will be another interesting side-road in my aviation journey. I'll report back when it's over.

Meanwhile, my advice continues to be: If you have composite fuel tanks, stay away from auto-gas with Ethanol (also know as E10), or you may end up "paying the piper" and/or losing the use of your baby for a while...
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By the way, you see the tall plastic bottle in the picture? That's a poor-man's "alcohol in gas" tester. Just browse the grocery store aisles until you find a similar tall (8-9 inches), round plastic or glass one; this one happens to be a carbonated, sugar-water (aka "soft drink") bottle. Put a line about 1-1.5 inches from the bottom and fill with water to it. Then, fill the rest of the bottle, to a point about the same distance down from the top, with the gasoline you want to test for the presence of alcohol. Next, shake the hell out of the gas and water mixture, then let it sit a few minutes. If there's alcohol present, it and the water will combine and the lower "water mark" on the bottle will magically rise. And if you get real precise with the measurements on the bottle, you can even calculate the relative %-tage of alcohol in the gas. If the 'water mark' does not move, you've got yourself some pure-gas, which in CA is like pure gold! I carry one of these plastic bottles with me when I go to buy gas now. It doubles as pee bottle on long trips.