Camas airfield 1st in WA to offer unleaded aviation fuel

Port of Camas-Washougal commissioners have approved an agreement with FlyIt Academy, a Grove Field-based flight school, to sell non-ethanol 92 unleaded “mogas” aviation fuel at the airfield.

Grove Field will become the first airport in Washington state to sell “mogas,” according to Port Chief Executive Officer David Ripp. The terms of the five-year agreement will begin on Thursday, June 1.

“I’m just thrilled with the agreement,” Port commissioner John Spencer said during a meeting on Wednesday, May 5. “I think this is one of the bigger moves we’ve made. It’s kind of a move into the public health sector, which is pretty darn cool.”

FlyIt will pay the Port a fuel flowage fee of six cents per gallon, according to the agreement.

“We need to be doing this recognizing that it will probably cost the Port money in the end (due to a) loss of sales,” Spencer said. “Personally, I think it’s a good decision regardless (of the financial ramifications), but… it is money.”

Despite leaded fuel having been banned in the United States for more than two decades in automobiles, every small piston-engined aircraft has continued to use leaded AVgas, according to a 2002 MSN.com report.

“When leaded gas was outlawed in the 1980s/1990s, the federal government carved out an exception for aviation because the industry, along with oil companies, felt it needed time to develop a safe unleaded fuel,” Spencer wrote in a Facebook post. “A lot of misinformation was put out there making pilots worry that it wasn’t safe to use 92 octane unleaded when in fact it’s actually better for the majority of small planes.”

The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) approved a 100-octane unleaded fuel called “G100UL,” developed by Oklahoma-based General Aviation Modifications Inc. (GAMI), for use in all spark-ignition aviation engines in September 2022, a move the general aviation industry says will help its transition away from leaded fuel.

“Despite the well-documented and serious health effects leaded gas has, and though there (have been) unleaded AVgas alternatives in development for years, none were given an official FAA supplemental type certification until (Sept. 1),” the MSN.com report states. “GAMI’s unleaded fuel is the first in the United States that is approved for all spark ignition engines and airframes.”

The FAA has announced that it hopes to phase out low-lead aviation gas by 2030, but House Bill 1554, introduced to the Washington state legislature earlier this year, would require the transition to begin by 2026.

“While the bill was voted out of the House this session, it unfortunately did not get brought up for a vote in the Senate Transportation Committee and eventually died due to the legislative cutoff calendar,” Megan Stockhausen, a press liaison for Rep. Beth Doglio (D-Olympia), the lead sponsor of the bill, told the Post-Record. “However, our legislature works on a biennial schedule, so the bill can be reconsidered next session without needing to be reintroduced.”

Ripp said that the Port is going to “be proactive and make this transition sooner than later” regardless of mandates.

“We’re getting ahead of it now,” Ripp told the Post-Record in 2022. “Now that we know there’s some alternative, some new abilities out there, we’re going to move forward with that. It’s definitely a positive thing for the environment and our community. We want to be viewed more as a leader (in this area).”

Grove Field pilot Bob Martilla told Port leaders that “the initial implementation of the mogas will be shaky for a little while.”

“Everybody has to get their policies and procedures correct (and learn) what they’re doing and how they’re doing it,” Martilla said during the May 5 meeting. “Training is an issue, and I believe that (FlyIt owner) Rick (Andersen) has worked on that, but until you start to implement it, it’s kind of like test flying — you don’t know how things are going to work until you actually go.

“I also need to point out that when the 100 unleaded does show up, it’ll be in short supply,” he continued. “Some of the time, you’ll have the 100 unleaded, but some days, you may not be able to get that supply, so you might be jumping back and forth between the 100 unleaded and the 100 low-lead.”

Martilla also pointed out that Port leaders should be prepared to answer questions from other agencies about their process.

“On the marketing part of this, this is an opportunity to bring in transient traffic in the area, then bring that money, which you normally wouldn’t have, into the Port district,” he said. “Also, I think that once you start selling this (fuel) and the traffic increases and other people see it, you should have your staff think about how they’re going to respond to other airports and other organizations about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. You should already have this thought-out and pre-packaged, so that when people do inquire, you already have this package together and you can show them around and they would understand it.”

The Post-Record was unable to reach Andersen for comment in time for this newspaper’s print deadline.