Unleaded gas question again

[britguy59]

As my Long EZ beging to get closer to finishing, I'm considering the cost of fuel as now, in the end of 2006 avgas is becoming VERY pricey compared to previous years. My wings were built proffessionally by the previous owner, probably in the late 80's and 90's. What are the risks of using auto fuel? Engine is IO-320 Lycoming. Thanks to all.

P.S.

I need to share a hangar somewhere near Lakeland/Tampa florida for awhile???

[Waiter]

I've burned car gas almost exclusively in my EZ for most of its life. I also used automotive oil Castrol 20x50 GTX.

 

The cost saving are translated into flight hours. The cost of less expensive fuel has allowed me to enjoy my EZ more.

 

I posted my operating costs for 2,600 hours of flying. Look at

 

http://www.iflyez.com/operatingcosts.shtml

 

Waiter

[britguy59]

Thanks, the question that concerns me, and I'm hoping for the voice of experiance here, is that the tanks are built using the standard epoxy of the era (I assume) and might not like the gas? I'm looking for people to comment on the history of autogas in the Long EZ world.

[Waiter]

I haven't had any negative experiences; i.e. like the epoxy being eaten by car gas. I had to cut my tanks open when I installed my Infinity Gear, I didn't find anything unusual. The inside of the tanks looked exactly like the day I closed them

 

Good Luck

 

Waiter

[cdavis]

I thought of the same thing, but talked with several flyers I knew, including a common-sense A&P guy.

 

According to him, mogas can be hard on the engine, particularly the seals.

 

Another problem is that mogas now has many different types of additives, so you never really know what you are getting.

 

What sealed the deal for me being against mogas is a guy who is, shall we say, very thrifty, but who knows engines well. He even used mogas for a short time several years ago, and says that he would never do it again.

 

That's my 2 cents. I guess what I'm saying is get more info before deciding.