G100UL?

[j4cbo]

Has anyone heard anything from Van's or Rotax about the legality of using GAMI G100UL in an S-LSA RV-12?

This is a paperwork question, not a "will it work?" question - my own RV-12 is an E-LSA so I don't need manufacturer approval, and I'm sure it burns fine. But for those with S-LSAs, the Van's POH is binding and says "100 LL Aviation Fuel or (91 AKI) Premium Unleaded Automotive"; technically G100UL is neither.

I would hope that Van's could simply issue a service letter authorizing G100UL, on the basis of all the compatibility testing that's already been done. Or change the POH to say "100 octane aviation fuel" instead of "100 LL". But I haven't seen anything concrete anywhere yet.

 

[SPRV12]

Rotax and Vans have not said anything about Swift fuel either, and I know of a flight school that has been using it for over five years in its RV12s. When I had my Cessna 150, I got the STC for Swift fuel and used it in my ELSA RV12. I think Vans will defer to Rotax and they will be concerned about octain rating.

 

[jrtens]

The 12is POH has been updated so perhaps they are working on the 12 POH.

 

[j4cbo]

For UL94 it’s a little more straightforward: Rotax has a “Selection of suitable operating fluids” publication (SI-912i-001R3 and SI-912-016R8) that explicitly allows ASTM D7547 unleaded avgas, and Swift UL94 meets that specification.

GAMI isn’t going through the ASTM process for G100UL. Swift is for their 100R fuel, but it seems to be a different spec than D7457, so as far as I can tell neither G100UL nor 100R have been explicitly approved by Rotax yet.

 

[12vaitor]

Rotax 912, 914, and 915 are on the GAMI STC Approved Model List for G100UL. The real question is does the STC process work with the ASTM/S-LSA approval for modifications.

John Salak
RV-12 N896HS

 

[Steve]

Lockwood Aero in Sebring FL use Swift UL94 in their Rotax engines.