California Airport Offers GAMI's Unleaded Avgas

The California airport that unilaterally banned the sale of leaded aviation fuel in 2022 has become the first U.S. airport to offer a 100-octane unleaded alternative.

Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) in San Jose started pumping GAMI G100UL unleaded avgas via fuel truck on Oct. 30. The Santa Clara County-owned airport stopped selling 100 Low Lead (100LL) avgas nearly three years ago after a study revealed elevated blood-lead levels in children living in nearby neighborhoods.

“This is a victory for the children and families on the East Side who have been historically marginalized and whose voices and legitimate health concerns have been disregarded for too long,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, whose district includes the neighborhood where RHV is located. 

“My deepest hope is that leaded aviation fuel is phased out of every general aviation airport in the U.S.”

EAGLE Initiative

The county’s action to ban 100LL in contravention of FAA grant assurances led to the formation of the industry-government Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative, which has a stated goal of moving the U.S. piston-engine aircraft fleet to unleaded avgas by 2030 or sooner. FAA reauthorization legislation signed into law earlier this year allows Alaska until 2032 to supply 100-octane leaded fuel, which is required by aircraft with high-compression engines.

Developed by General Aviation Modifications Inc. (GAMI), a small engineering company in Ada, Oklahoma, G100UL received supplemental type certification (STC) from the FAA in September 2022 for use in all spark-ignition piston aircraft engines. But its adoption by the general aviation industry has lagged due to the fuel’s lack of an ASTM product specification and questions over its compatibility with materials in the fuel distribution network.

GAMI announced at the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo in April that jet-fuel supplier Vitol Aviation had produced 1 million gal. of G100UL that was stored in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and available for sale. Santa Clara County provided a photo of a fuel tanker truck from Texas-based Lessley And Sons making the first delivery to RHV, which received a 7,500-gal. quantity on Oct. 28.

Price Differential

G100UL was made available by refueler truck for $6.99 per gallon at RHV, about 25-to-30 cents per gallon more than full-service avgas sold at nearby airports, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Aircraft owners must purchase an STC for their engine and airframe to use the new fuel.

RHV now offers G100UL and lower-octane Swift UL94 unleaded avgas for sale to pilots.

“GAMI’s partnership with Reid-Hillview Airport represents another step in the transition to an unleaded future for general aviation by offering an opportunity to demonstrate the performance and reliability of G100UL,” said National Air Transportation Association (NATA) President and CEO Curt Castagna, who serves as the EAGLE initiative co-chair.

“NATA looks forward to continued collaboration with our EAGLE partners to safely deploy unleaded fuels that meet the needs and standards of the entire general aviation industry,” Castagna added.

NATA, which represents fixed-base operators that sell avgas, offers training for aircraft refuelers to address risks of misfuelling associated with the introduction of an additional grade of fuel at airports. “It is critical that anyone who handles or uses emerging fuels reviews these resources, as well as any specific STC or OEM requirements,” the association said.

In September, the FAA approved the use of Swift’s 100R unleaded fuel by STC in Cessna 172 Skyhawks powered by Lycoming IO-360-L2A piston engines. Developer Swift Fuels has said that it plans to expand the approved model list of piston aircraft and engines that can burn the new 100-octane unleaded fuel, for which it is also pursuing an ASTM product specification.