If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
I used to own a Black 1995 T100 xcab 4x4 with all the options except
automatic. I'm still sorry I sold it. The only problem I ever had was with the starter. The solenoid contacts would wear unevenly and had to be replaced every year. Hopefully your starter has been updated to a newer design. Good luck with it. Dave Jay Honeck wrote: The Green Grape is born! http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
Good job Jay. You always seem to find the cool ways to get stuff done....
Jon Jay Honeck wrote: The Green Grape is born! http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
Steve Foley wrote:
I think there are permit issues if you want to transport over 50 gallons. Besides, I doubt he empties the tanks every time. I nkow I don't. I don't empty mine, but most of the time I return home with more than 45 gallons less than I left home with. That means for most trips a trip to the gas station to be able to fill up what I burned off. Jay's plane is a PA28-235, which has IIRC the same 84 gallons capacity my six has distributed in four tanks. I think his burns about 12.5 GPH, so 4 hours of flying will use up a full load of the grape. |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
Jay wrote : Anyone who doesn't build their own Mighty Grape is just flushing $100 bills down the toilet, IMHO. It's really not that hard to do, and (if you shop around) you get a nice truck to drive in the bargain. Gee, Jay. Remarks like that make me feel so much better about having to fuel with 100LL. My Cherokee 180 even has the expensive (dual pump) autofuel STC. The problem is that I'd have to drive about 50 miles out of town to find autogas that's unadulterated with ethanol (EPA required in our metro area). I used to fuel my old 172 with autogas from a 30 gal. drum and a hand pump. Not fun, but I discovered the savings right away. I currently own a '99 Nissan Frontier and a couple of years ago I was a few weeks short of buying a transfer tank, when I heard the news that ethanol would be here to stay. You Iowans should consider yourselves lucky that you aren't forced to buy polluted fuel. John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180) -- JGalban Posted at www.flight.org |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
Jay Honeck wrote:
Jay, Ni Clearly you must earn a lot more than I do, Ray! $55 per trip to the airport (which, as Montblack stated, is less than 1 mile away) is worth every moment spent messing around with it. (Actually, bringing the truck to the hangar is MUCH easier than bringing the plane to the self-serve pumps...) Heck, I used to refuel Atlas from 6-gallon jerry cans, and I thought *that* was worth it. Fueling from the Grape is simply heaven compared to THAT nightmare. Our average flight is a bit less than an hour each way, or between 1.5 - 2.0 hours 'round trip. This translates into from 22 to 30 gallons of gas, so we get roughly two flights per trip to the gas station, sometimes more, sometimes less. Since we usually fly twice a week, we're saving (at least) $2860 per year in fuel costs -- AND we're feeding Atlas a fuel that he is much happier burning. It's a win-win all the way around. (Actually, right now the price differential is $1.71 per gallon -- so the savings just jumped to $4891 annually....) We have an account at the gas station and get a substantial discount because we do volume purchasing with their company. (The station is owned by a grocery store chain that we do a lot of business with...) All I have to do is sign for it, and they bill me at the end of the month. It works great. Anyone who doesn't build their own Mighty Grape is just flushing $100 bills down the toilet, IMHO. It's really not that hard to do, and (if you shop around) you get a nice truck to drive in the bargain. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" Jay, See, I'm coming from a different land here too. I can't get my own car onto the field to load babies into the airplane, much less a truck full of gas. If I am willing to drive 50 minutes to the airport instead of 20, I can get onto the field (closest airport that allows private vehicle access) after jumping through all the right hoops. Yes, I do make a good living, and my time and the hassle are worth something to me. If my plane could use mogas (it can't, there is no STC for it, as the min octane requirement is 96), and I could get a truck onto the airport to refuel it, etc, then it MIGHT be worth it. Fact is, I buy close to 60% of all my avgas away from home and I do shop around for lowest Avgas prices, so it would take me much longer to amortize the cost of equipment over the savings. You have an advantage of lower fuel burn and the ability to tanker around the same volume of gas that I can. So, I think its great that you can make the grape work for you. There are a lot of us out there that for a multitude of reasons doing so is either impractical (airport access, not enough fuel taken on at home vs total fuel used, permits), or impossible (engines 250 HP). |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
Jay,
Around here there is also the issue of ethanol in the auto-fuel. I don't think there are any stations left here that sell without ethanol (state law?). Our autogas prices are running around $2.70/ gal right now, compared with $3.50/gal for Avgas at WST, which is where I frequently stop to fill up. KPVD is charging I think $4.85/g now. I know some of the local EAA members have been complaining about lack of availability of mogas without ethanol. |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
You Iowans should consider
yourselves lucky that you aren't forced to buy polluted fuel. Sorry, John -- I know many folks are stuck with that corn fuel in their gas, and I feel especially guilty since it's my state of Iowa that is the source for much of that crap. I'm scared to death that our new Democrat majority (in Iowa, they now control all three branches of government) will mandate ethanol in everything here, too. When that happens, Mary and I will be screwed, too. :-( -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination' |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
See, I'm coming from a different land here too. I can't get my own car
onto the field to load babies into the airplane, much less a truck full of gas. That is incredibly stupid. Where do you fly from? Heck, even at the larger airports in this area (Kansas City downtown, Cedar Rapids, Madison, etc.) you can drive a courtesy car out to your plane. It's good to live where common sense still rules, I guess. So, I think its great that you can make the grape work for you. There are a lot of us out there that for a multitude of reasons doing so is either impractical (airport access, not enough fuel taken on at home vs total fuel used, permits), or impossible (engines 250 HP). Until ethanol is everywhere (which, I fear, our new Congress will soon be mandating), I will continue to enjoy the use of mogas in our plane. Quite frankly (until it is impossible to use) I wouldn't consider buying a plane that couldn't burn mogas, given the cost differential with avgas. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination' |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
Jay Honeck wrote: Quite frankly (until it is impossible to use) I wouldn't consider buying a plane that couldn't burn mogas, given the cost differential with avgas. I have to use 100LL now with the Bonanza but it is so much more efficient that I am burning 4.5 GPH less to go the same speed as the 182 I had before. I am spending a lot less on gas than before. |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
Pix of our new fuel truck
Jay Honeck wrote:
See, I'm coming from a different land here too. I can't get my own car onto the field to load babies into the airplane, much less a truck full of gas. That is incredibly stupid. Where do you fly from? KPVD, Providence RI. TSA shut down access to the field after 9/11. Before that we could get on with a vehicle escort. Not only that but we have to pay for stinkin badges, and they keep having us come in to renew the badges, provide more credentials, take security tests, get fingerprinted etc, etc, etc. I guess the upside is I'm reasonably assured that some bozo isn't going to come in and mess with my plane. If we were not so embedded in the community, I'd strongly consider moving somewhere that a) has a lower cost of living, b) isn't so steeped in idiotic beauracracy and c) is more centrally located so I get better utility out of the airplane. My wife says no for now though. As far as planes that burn mogas, well, show me one that has enough seats for my brood that will burn mogas, and you might make a convert out of me. Kind of a moot point here though, because pretty much everything they sell here now is corn gas. Heck, even at the larger airports in this area (Kansas City downtown, Cedar Rapids, Madison, etc.) you can drive a courtesy car out to your plane. It's good to live where common sense still rules, I guess. So, I think its great that you can make the grape work for you. There are a lot of us out there that for a multitude of reasons doing so is either impractical (airport access, not enough fuel taken on at home vs total fuel used, permits), or impossible (engines 250 HP). Until ethanol is everywhere (which, I fear, our new Congress will soon be mandating), I will continue to enjoy the use of mogas in our plane. Quite frankly (until it is impossible to use) I wouldn't consider buying a plane that couldn't burn mogas, given the cost differential with avgas. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination' |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Time, running out of fuel and fuel gauges | Dylan Smith | Piloting | 29 | February 3rd 08 07:04 PM |
Own your own fuel truck? | Dan | Piloting | 9 | July 22nd 06 04:22 AM |
Exposed Electrical Wires in Boeing 737 Fuel Tanks! | Larry Dighera | Piloting | 0 | July 17th 06 06:13 PM |
I want to build the most EVIL plane EVER !!! | Eliot Coweye | Home Built | 237 | February 13th 06 03:55 AM |
Cessna 172 with Wild Fuel Gauge Needle | jls | Owning | 26 | February 20th 04 05:56 AM |