Fuel Placard Question

[CarlOrton]

How do you word/edit a fuel placard if either 100LL or 91 autofuel can be used? As in, with ethanol?

100LL is preferred, and I intend to use that whenever available, but I'd like to be covered for those instances when caught in a pinch. It's for an AeroVee engine which I assembled myself to handle either fuel.

I'm looking for specific FAA legal words. Is it:
"100LL *OR* 91 octane auto gasoline",
"100LL/91 octane auto gasoline",

...or something different?

Thanks!

[steveinindy]

I think Aircraft Spruce sells a decal for this. You might check there. I seem to remember seeing one on their website.

[Eric Witherspoon]

I would argue that as NOT one of the markings required (like the "E" word, the pax warning, the N-number), that no words at all are required for E-AB. But here's what I used:

http://tinyurl.com/fuel-label

[hydroguy2]

I labeled the minimum required octane

[Mike M]

I'm looking for specific FAA legal words.

your experimental aircraft is not built under FAR 23 or 25, so those FAR parts are advisory, not regulatory for your purposes.  no reason i know of that you can't use them for a source of "legal words" on your fuel placards.

23.1557 Miscellaneous markings and placards.
(c)Fuel, oil, and coolant filler openings.
(1) Fuel filler openings must be marked at or near the filler cover with
(i) For reciprocating engine-powered airplanes—
(A) The word “Avgas”; and
(B) The minimum fuel grade.

25.1557 Miscellaneous markings and placards.
(b) Powerplant fluid filler openings. The following apply:
(1) Fuel filler openings must be marked at or near the filler cover with—
(i) The word “fuel”;
(ii) For reciprocating engine powered airplanes, the minimum fuel grade;

hmm. don't agree. now what? well, as the aircraft manufacturer, why don't you make your own placards incorporating the requirements of both? what minimum fuel grade are you going to put on the placard? did i hear you say "100LL or 91 autofuel"? might want to reconsider. 91 autofuel is 91 what? RON, MON, or AKI? i'm betting you mean AKI. and 100LL is 100 what? MON. which is usually about 8 to 10 points lower than the RON. wait, don't go make up those placards yet. is 100 the lowest MON your engine needs? probably not, if it will take 91 autofuel. 91/96 avgas used to be available, and who knows, might be again if 100 LL isn't. or some other avgas less than 100. so why not placard for the minimum octane now and not have to re-do it later? and as to the 91 autofuel, don't you really mean premium? if you placard for 91 AKI, you may not be able to find autogas in some parts of the country that meets the AKI - but will work perfectly well in your application. when i lived in Clovis NM i found that the only premium available was 90 AKI. the Shell Answer Man (yes, Virginia, he really answers the phone) explained to me that the required AKI rating decreases 1 point for about 2500' of elevation in the lower atmosphere. thus with the lowest terrain for miles around being over 4000' msl, the highest AKI producers shipped to that area was 90. as to supercharged or turbocharged engines, he said new car engines with those features also have protection against overboost on lower AKI fuels. no i did not ask him to explain how.

so. consider placards that say "FUEL - minimum grade - premium autogas (with/without ethanol) or avgas 90 MON and any mixture thereof". no AKI specified, and whatever minimum MON your engine REALLY needs. that has all the "legal words" (fuel - avgas - minimum grade) from the regs. regs that don't apply to experimentals anyway. you might want to read up on the caution points about gasohol in aircraft.

YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. i am neither a petrochemical engineer nor an aviation lawyer, just a reader who asks questions of petrochemical engineers and lawyers, and my distilled advice was free.

[Dana]

Back when I had my T-Craft I was tempted to make a label specifying (according to the Type Certificate) "73 Octane minimum". Those old Continentals sure weren't picky...

[rwanttaja]

One thing to keep in mind is that (hard as it might be to believe) you're probably not going to be the only owner the airplane will have. Ten, fifteen years down the pike, some new owner may be staring at the fuel cap and wondering, "What am I supposed to put in there?" Cdrmuetzel has the right of it; volunteer compliance with the marking requirements of Parts 23 and 25 would be a good way to go.

I bought my Fly Baby sixteen years ago, and there were no such markings. Over the years, the various A&Ps who have done the condition inspections have gradually forced me into the straight and narrow as far as aircraft markings..."Paint that new gas cap red" "Add a label as to fuel type" "You need a label showing which way the fuel valve is 'on'" "Add a protective cover for the 'arm' switch of the .50 cals" (well, OK, not the last one).

Properly marking things will probably give you better karma with the DAR, when the time comes. They'll appreciate that you're taking a professional approach to finishing the airplane.

Ron Wanttaja

[martymayes]

Paint that new gas cap red"

That's an interesting requirement Ron. I guess your A&P's are from the stone age?

[rwanttaja]

"Paint that new gas cap red"

That's an interesting requirement Ron. I guess your A&P's are from the stone age?

Well, yes. He used to tell me stories about maintaining Constellations for Northwest Airlines. He did my condition inspection every year for free; I thought it was worth two bucks worth of paint to keep him happy.

Don't know where the tradition came from. I suspect it was to prevent inadvertent switching of the oil and gas caps (oil caps were supposed to be painted yellow).

Ron Wanttaja

[Mike M]

I guess your A&P's are from the stone age?

Or the electron age. Using the color coding from Aviation Maintenance Technician Handbook - General, chapter 7, figure 7-13, to mark the tank cap. Some folks like to see the whole tank painted the appropriate color-code. Your mileage may vary.