MoGas Long Term Test: 5000 gallons and counting...

Why is EGT irrelevant?

Jay,

Have you run 93 octane?


Trip

In article y6zfe.67777$WI3.10767@attbi_s71, says...

Yesterday I noticed that we had pumped more than 5000 gallons of mogas
through the Mighty Grape. This represents something like 60 complete fills
(our plane has four gas tanks, totaling 84 gallons), and around 350 hours of
flight time over the last 2.5 years.

(See: http://alexisparkinn.com/fuel_truck.htm for details on our Jim
Weir-inspired fuel truck, the "Mighty Grape"...)

At an average saving of over $1 per gallon (at the moment, it's more like
$1.25), we have paid for the truck (which we use extensively at the hotel),
the tank & pump installation (which has worked flawlessly from "Day One") --
and put aside over $2500 toward our next overhaul.

Best of all, Atlas (our Lycoming O-540-powered Cherokee Pathfinder) simply
runs best on regular, 87-octane unleaded car gasoline. In fact, the ONLY
time we've had trouble with our new engine has been when we were forced to
buy 100LL avgas, which causes lead-fouling of our spark plugs at the drop of
a hat.

All the worries that people stated, both personally and here in this forum,
have turned out to be entirely baseless. After flying with mogas for the
last 2.5 years, I can unequivocally state the following:

1. Mogas works better in my plane than avgas. Our engine runs noticeably
better on mogas.
2. I have had no problems with contamination of any kind (my pump/tank
installation has a very good filtration system)
3. If we've run across any ethanol, the engine has never burped because of
it.
4. We've run mogas from sea level to 13,500 feet, in temperatures from -15
to +97 degrees Fahrenheit, without problem.

Because of this, I state further that:

1. I would burn mogas in my plane even if it cost MORE than avgas -- it runs
that much better.
2. I will never buy a plane that doesn't have the auto gas STC.

The autogas STC is undoubtedly the best thing that has ever happened to
aircraft owners. If you've got the STC, but aren't using it, you are
literally flushing thousands of dollars down the toilet.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Corky Scott wrote:

John Deakin has written that if you lean to the lean side of peak and
the engine runs rough, pulling on full carb heat will distribute the
fuel into the air mixture better and give you the ability to lean to
the lean side of peak.

You might just try it, if only for a little bit if you are too
uncomfortable with the process.


Doesn't always work. I tried it on the O-360 in my Cherokee and the
carb heat made no difference. It still stumbled right after peaking.
Induction systems are different from plane to plane and even from year
to year on the same model. The carb heat trick does work on certain
planes that I fly, so I think it's worth a try. Just don't get your
hopes up.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

BTIZ wrote:

Actually I think it was available up into the mid to late 70s...

80/88, and it was colored Red...


Red gas was available in some places until fairly recently
(historically speaking). My airport was selling it right up until
2002.

Oddly enough, I saw some red gas the other day. My tiedown
neighbor owns a 150 that never flies. Every few years, he spends
several thousand on an annual and maintenance, then ends up not flying.
The cycle repeats every other year.

Just the other day he had a team of A&Ps and IA surrounding the plane
on the ramp, getting it ready to fly again. He's finally selling it.
When he sampled the fuel and it came out red colored, everyone on the
ramp just busted out laughing. We figured he had the last surviving
example of 80/87 aviation gas in the country. Too bad such rarity
doesn't make his ramp queen worth any more :-(

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)


John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

Dave Stadt wrote:


The only down side to mogas I have noticed is the smell.



I had a friend who liked to sniff gasoline, once.

God rest his soul.

--
This is by far the hardest lesson about freedom. It goes against
instinct, and morality, to just sit back and watch people make
mistakes. We want to help them, which means control them and their
decisions, but in doing so we actually hurt them (and ourselves)."

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:_eAfe.67985$WI3.223@attbi_s71...

The Grape itself cost $1800, and the tank/pump installation (and a couple of other things) make up the other $700 or
so.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Any more details about The Grape?

I got my last tankful of 80/87 at RBL about November of last year,
awhile after the last refiner stopped producing it. It had become a
rarity over the last ten years or so - you had to know where to go to
get it.

David Johnson

"Corky Scott" wrote in message
...
On 9 May 2005 10:21:51 -0700, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

I *can* lean a lot more, push my EGTs over 1500 degrees, push my CHTs
to 350+ degrees, save some gas -- and risk my new engine.

Now, of course, there are many theories on leaning (I've read 'em all),
but with my normally aspirated engine having such (relatively)
unbalanced fuel flow to each cylinder, I don't feel comfortable
aggressively leaning.

John Deakin has written that if you lean to the lean side of peak and
the engine runs rough, pulling on full carb heat will distribute the
fuel into the air mixture better and give you the ability to lean to
the lean side of peak.

Actually, he says "just a touch" of carb heat.


You might just try it, if only for a little bit if you are too
uncomfortable with the process.

wrote in message
oups.com...

Corky Scott wrote:

John Deakin has written that if you lean to the lean side of peak and
the engine runs rough, pulling on full carb heat will distribute the
fuel into the air mixture better and give you the ability to lean to
the lean side of peak.

You might just try it, if only for a little bit if you are too
uncomfortable with the process.


Doesn't always work. I tried it on the O-360 in my Cherokee and the
carb heat made no difference. It still stumbled right after peaking.
Induction systems are different from plane to plane and even from year
to year on the same model. The carb heat trick does work on certain
planes that I fly, so I think it's worth a try. Just don't get your
hopes up.

Deakin was talking about the engine in the Skylane with the whatsitsname
carburator.

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182084-1.html

"Here's another tip for carbureted engines, if you're operating high enough
to use full throttle, or nearly so. From the full-throttle position, pull
the throttle back until you observe the slightest drop in MP - perhaps a
quarter-inch or less. Leave it there. That will cock the throttle plate a
little, just enough to set up a vortex that will cause better atomization
and mixing of the fuel and air. (This is counterproductive in fuel injected
engines.)"

In a previous post, I'd said he recommended adding a "touch of carb heat" --
sorry.

The Grape itself cost $1800, and the tank/pump installation (and a couple
of other things) make up the other $700 or so.

Any more details about The Grape?

See: http://alexisparkinn.com/fuel_truck.htm

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"