(Robert M. Gary) writes:

http://www.age85.org/ProjectDescription.htm
They're testing it on a 201 right now.

Allow me to strip a few leaves off the cob....


"This project began in July, 1996."

Hmmm...8 years and counting. Not zipping along, but not too lengthy
either as these things go.

"The purpose of the project was to develop a fuel based on ethanol..."

I gotta wonder...given that this is being done in the Mid-West...what
was more important: to base the new fuel heavily on ethanol, or to
find a replacement for 100LL? In other words, in a research project
to simply find the best replacement for 100LL, would it necessarily
end up as ethanol? Probably not. Is this a solution looking for a
problem?

"The South Dakota Corn utlization Council..."
Seeing misspellings in the main website for a project is like
misspellings on a resume--I immediately mistrust everything else.

"June, 1997 - Install Ethanol Engine"

Oh-oh. This requires new engines?? Or what?

"Mooney 201 Project
This project began Fall, 1999 and is our first attempt to work with
Lycoming engines. Equipped with a 200 HP IO-360, the fuel system for
this aircraft will be modified for operation on both AGE-85 and
avgas."

Or at least modification to fuel systems. How much modification...how
much will this cost?

Other questions: Doesn't ethanol have less energy / volume than
gasoline? So what about performance or range?

What sort of processing is needed to produce this...can it be done
cheaply on a national scale?

Somehow it doesn't look like something that will replace 100LL.

I got a can of TCP and will have to start using that.