FAA to Begin Evaluation of Unleaded Avgas

CalPilots

The FAA is about to begin the next step in its search for an unleaded general aviation fuel through the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI). The FAA announced today it has received nine replacement fuel proposals from producers Afton Chemical Company, Avgas LLC, Shell, Swift Fuels and a consortium of BP, TOTAL and Hjelmco, for further evaluation in the PAFI, an industry-government initiative designed to help the general aviation industry transition to an unleaded aviation gasoline. The FAA will now assess the viability of the candidate fuels to determine which fuels may be part of the first phase of laboratory testing at the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center. The goal is for government and industry to work together to have a new unleaded fuel by 2018.

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Shell unveils lead-free avgas

CalPilots

Shell revealed today that it has developed a lead-free replacement for 100LL. The lead-free formulation, which comes after 10 years of “exhaustive R&D, as well as successful initial testing” by two OEMs, will now begin a strict regulatory approvals process, according to company officials. “We are proud of this first for Shell Aviation,” said Xinsheng…

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