Rotax leading

Cub flyer · Post by **Cub flyer** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:54 pm

I like the Swift fuel approach. Drop in replacement, Base material is Acetone which is not anywhere near as harmful as the chemicals in Avgas.

The Acetone base can be made from Natural Gas which we have a lot of.

Also it has more BTU for unit than our current fuel. Totally opposite of Ethanol.

They keep working on the green alternative but here is a fuel that can be made now from domestic sources and also green sources later.

I'd like to see it put in place to see how it works and then build the green infrastructure to support as the technology changes. Based on availability or season you could have a steady supply supplemented by the natural gas if needed.

And I could still burn a lot of it in the Queen Air.

zdc · Post by **zdc** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:27 pm

A major problem is the piston av-gas market is so small and maybe getting smaller. Some airports used to have three grades of av-gas and I assume the market at one time could support that.

The only practical and economical solution that I see is that GA acft use the same fuel as jet acft, i.e. diesel engines.

Cub flyer · Post by **Cub flyer** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 2:34 pm

The trend started when the airlines and then the military quit using Avgas. Biggest customers were gone.

We're the only ones left.

That's why I'm hoping for small regional pocket refineries using natural gas as a base.
Less shipping and geared for less volume but the fuel blend is tailor made for airplanes.

tu16 · Post by **tu16** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:03 pm

zdc wrote:The only practical and economical solution that I see is that GA acft use the same fuel as jet acft, i.e. diesel engines.

On that topic - did anybody hear whatever is happenning with development of 100hp diesel for LSA : Gemini 100. Haven't heard of them since 2009... The technical docs are still up on "site under construction" http://ppdgemini.com/

http://www.aviationbull.com/2009/feb/06 ... gine-track

Jack Tyler · Post by **Jack Tyler** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 2:07 pm

"One LSA engine that seems to get left out when the discussion turns to powerplants is the Jabiru. I have no idea how well that engine has faired out in the field."

A good forum to visit for hearing about experience with Jabiru engines is www.recreationalflying.net/forum.php Mostly (tho' not exclusively) Australian pilots flying recreational aircraft, a number of them Jab-powered. My impression, based on comments from that forum, is that Jabiru engines don't routinely make it to their TBO.

"That's the only airplane manufacturer that I know of that also makes its' own engine."

Sonex is another company that designs and builds a/c and also engines.

Jack

zaitcev · Post by **zaitcev** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 2:35 pm

Jabiru is amost a major player now. Even I knew about them. But if you go down the rank, there's a whole bunch of exotic engines. Revolution is a rotary. UL is an attempt to gather the best of tried and true with new and computerized. That one can possibly be specifically programmed to deal with lead. And then there's a bunch of automotive conversions. The guy who used to put Subaru boxers on airplanes switched to Honda, which apparently holds better to running the rated power for extended periods. Bet that thing does not like lead very much. But this thread is about Rotax, because like it or not Rotax is the engine for us, and everything else is on the margins.

ArionAv8or · Post by **ArionAv8or** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 3:26 pm

zaitcev wrote:But this thread is about Rotax, because like it or not Rotax is the engine for us, and everything else is on the margins.

NO, Rotax is the engine for you. Jabiru is the engine for me and a lot of other flyers out there with LSAs. Jabiru, Lightning, some Sonex and even a Rans 19 now.