flight school installing an autofuel tank

Fortunately, the autogas pump at AWO is usually only about 20c/gallon
higher than the price on the street. I hope that'll make the flight
school price their autofuel accordingly.

Grumman-581 wrote:


Of course, that is going to depend upon how much the owner of the flight
school is going to sell autogas for... I seem to remember reading in our
city's docs for our airport that it was defined that they would sell
fuel for $1 per gallon over their actual cost...

Jay Honeck wrote:

Outstanding! Our stupid airport commission and FBO would much rather
complain about the stuff (although, in fairness, they're pretty muted
about it) instead of jumping on board the band wagon, and installing
tanks/pumps. Lord knows they wouldn't want to actually make any money
selling fuel...

So why don't you buy and install a tank and pump and sell the fuel
yourself. Iowa still allows competition don't they? I have a friend
who installed a 12,000 gallon tank at an airport near here and directly
competes against the full service FBO on the field. Because your field
takes FAA funds you are guaranteed to get it approved although the
process can be discouraging.

The ONLY "downside" to this... which is subjective.. is that if the wet
rate is lower because of this, also expect the "reimbursement" rate to
reflect HIS cost per gallon of autofuel, and not YOUR cost per gallon of
fuel bought away from the field on cross country.

Its a matter of being informed ahead of time that you may spend $3-4/gal
buying fuel remotely and only get $2-2.50 reimbursed based on this.

Dave

M wrote:
The owner of a flight school at my airport (PAE) told me today that
he'll soon install a 1500 gallon fuel tank for 91 octane autofuel, to
supply fuel for his STC'ed cherokees and the Stingsport LSA on his
flightline (he's a dealer for Stingsport LSA). What a concept! He can
save a whole bunch on fuel, offering a better wet rental rate, and I'll
have another on-airport autofuel supplier in this area (the other is at
the self serve pump at AWO).

In case people didn't notice, the price gap between avgas and autogas
is no longer $1/gallon. It has grown to something more like
$1.30/gallon.

: So why don't you buy and install a tank and pump and sell the fuel
: yourself. Iowa still allows competition don't they? I have a friend
: who installed a 12,000 gallon tank at an airport near here and directly
: competes against the full service FBO on the field. Because your field
: takes FAA funds you are guaranteed to get it approved although the
: process can be discouraging.

What exactly are the rules on this? The airport authority here has a rather draconian set of rules WRT "taxes" they
impose on other potential FBO's who might want to sell fuel. I suspect the rules are contrary to what the feds say is
allowable (but then again, so are a lot of other rules they've imposed as well).

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA *
* Electrical Engineering *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

wrote:

: So why don't you buy and install a tank and pump and sell the fuel
: yourself. Iowa still allows competition don't they? I have a friend
: who installed a 12,000 gallon tank at an airport near here and directly
: competes against the full service FBO on the field. Because your field
: takes FAA funds you are guaranteed to get it approved although the
: process can be discouraging.

What exactly are the rules on this? The airport authority here has a rather draconian set of rules WRT "taxes" they
impose on other potential FBO's who might want to sell fuel. I suspect the rules are contrary to what the feds say is
allowable (but then again, so are a lot of other rules they've imposed as well).

You will have to do some research and get yourself educated. That
little airport near here tried to protect the FBO too because he and the
airport board president were buddies. It took about two years to get
the thing approved. They can't make you pay anything that the FBO
doesn't pay. Here the only fee is the flow tax, which is the same for
everybody. I believe it's a nickel a gallon. My buddy got the contract
for the college flight school on the field and as such he buys gas often
and at full tanker loads so he gets the best price. They probably have
$75K invested and the whole deal was paid for in about three years.
They are always priced well below the FBO, about 40-50 cents a gallon.

"M" wrote in message
ups.com...
Fortunately, the autogas pump at AWO is usually only about 20c/gallon
higher than the price on the street. I hope that'll make the flight
school price their autofuel accordingly.

Currently, I have a 55g drum and I fill it up periodically... I *used* to be
able to fill it up near the airport, but thanks to the alcohol in the fuel
these days, I would have to drive around 30 miles (each way) to get it
filled up with *real* gas... That's not really worth it for just 55
gallons... I'm going to pick up a couple more 55g drums so that it would be
worthwhile... At around $10 per drum, they pay for themselves after the
first fillup as compared to avgas... I recently found a car wash that was
throwing away a 30g drum... I need to clean it up on the inside a bit with a
pressure washer, but all in all, I suspect that this size might even be more
convenient -- at least from a handling standpoint... You gotta be a bit
careful with the 55g drums when unloading them from your truck... They weigh
about 350 lbs full and you don't want to drop 'em and cause a leak... I
figure that I can probably put at least 6 of them in the back of my pickup,
but I'm not so sure I want that much weight back there... That's 2100 lbs
and that might be a bit much for what is supposedly classified as a 1/2 ton
pickup (Dodge QuadCab 1500 4x4)... Filling it with 30g drums would probably
be alright from a weight standpoint though...

Dave S wrote:
The ONLY "downside" to this... which is subjective.. is that if the wet
rate is lower because of this, also expect the "reimbursement" rate to
reflect HIS cost per gallon of autofuel, and not YOUR cost per gallon of
fuel bought away from the field on cross country.

Its a matter of being informed ahead of time that you may spend $3-4/gal
buying fuel remotely and only get $2-2.50 reimbursed based on this.

Is that a common practice? where I fly remote fuel reimbursement is
what you actually paid. You attach the fuel receipt to your statement
and simply deduct it from your bottom line price.

I just assumed that's how everyone does it. Of course our on-field FBO
is not the cheapest by any means either, so the club usually comes out
ahead on remote fueling.

In rec.aviation.owning xyzzy wrote:

Dave S wrote:
The ONLY "downside" to this... which is subjective.. is that if the wet
rate is lower because of this, also expect the "reimbursement" rate to
reflect HIS cost per gallon of autofuel, and not YOUR cost per gallon of
fuel bought away from the field on cross country.

Its a matter of being informed ahead of time that you may spend $3-4/gal
buying fuel remotely and only get $2-2.50 reimbursed based on this.

Is that a common practice? where I fly remote fuel reimbursement is
what you actually paid. You attach the fuel receipt to your statement
and simply deduct it from your bottom line price.

I just assumed that's how everyone does it. Of course our on-field FBO
is not the cheapest by any means either, so the club usually comes out
ahead on remote fueling.

The local renter reimburses actual up to a maximum which is roughly
the average local price and usually around a half buck more than the
field price for full serve.

I once asked why and they replied they were more concerned about
someone running out of gas a mile short of the runway and what that
would do to the bottom line than they were about the couple of bucks
now and then for a pricey fillup.

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

Is that a common practice? where I fly remote fuel reimbursement is
what you actually paid. You attach the fuel receipt to your statement
and simply deduct it from your bottom line price.

It's probably common club practice (it is in our club - we get
reimbursed at the rate at our home base). FBOs tend to reimburse on
actual costs. I guess it's simpler accounting and a different pilot set.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

My buddy got the contract
for the college flight school on the field and as such he buys gas often
and at full tanker loads so he gets the best price. They probably have
$75K invested and the whole deal was paid for in about three years.
They are always priced well below the FBO, about 40-50 cents a gallon.

That is COOL.

One of the flight schools on our field just went belly up. Not much
to be made on fuel sales around here, I'm afraid...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"