Hmmm... the FAA ramp-nazis would love to hear that

No doubt. We have some private airports here where the FAA goes only
in groups - and they very pointedly stay away from any airplanes
they're not directly involved with. I hear rumors that some FAA
inspectors disappeared, but I'm sure they're only rumors.

I tend to be
pretty conservative about my flying - probably because the margin for
error is much less than driving.

I'm really not convinced that's true, but in any case it's irrelevant
here. I worked for quite a while in the refinery insdustry
troubleshoting the distillation towers, and I learned a lot about how
fuels are made. I still design instrumentation for that industry. I
can tell you with a high level of confidence that while you may pay for
a high level of quality control in avgas, you aren't getting it. The
specs on that stuff are obsolete, it's a pain-in-the ass customer
special (not a high-margin product like automotive premium), and it's
the first thing they screw with when the main frac goes wonky. And the
lead additive is 1940's technology. They don't even maintain a
constant amount - they just add it until they make octane on the test
engine.

So what I'm telling you is that when you switch to a boat-engine lead
additive and premium autogas, you're actually being more, not less,
conservative.

Mcihael