What fuel is best to use?

[cletrac (RIP)]

A flat tappet cam like old vehicles use has to have a zinc additive in the oil or the cam lobes won't last. There aren't many oils that have it but quite a few heavy duty diesel oils do have zinc.

[rob love]

Good point on the oil. There is a chart on a site somewhere that compared the Zinc levels of diesel oil. Walmart oil actually came out as one of the higher levels, although that may vary since it may well be "jugged" at regional contractors.

Another option is the high mileage oils. There are a number of them at Canadian tire these days. Most or all brag about their increased levels of Zinc.

You can also add an additive like ZDP. I ordered 10 bottles off ebay which will last my little fleet for a while.

[Chris Preston]

'Afternoon All,

Many Thanks for your insight and suggestions with this topic - it's pretty much what we thought, but it's always nice to get confirmation from those who have more experience.

Cheers,

Chris - In Victoria, BC

[Robert Bergeron]

For what it is worth , there is one alternative to useless, ethanol tainted, low quality gasoline : Avgas . It's rating is 100 Octane but it contains lead , high altitude additives and it is vapour lock proof . Use it in all my HMV ´s . It stays fresh , does not stale , needs no additives and the valve stems are lubricated. The engines start any time of year , any temperature even after sitting idle for 6-7 and in one case even 9 months. ... Added bonus it is blue , smells nice and there is no road tax....It sells for around $1.75 -$2 a litre . May be illegal , don't know , and it's no excuse. Stupid idea to add Ethanol to gasoline in the first place , it ruins expensive equipment and adds maintenance costs and troubles . It will be phased out soon ( years ) so use it while you can...but it is difficult to procure if you don't own a plane .When traveling i use Premium unleaded Shell V Power. Reputedly it does not contain ethanol . There i said it. Read it before i delete it . Cheers and very best good luck to all.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Ethanol only exists because of (misguided) government requirements and subsidies. It takes more energy (usually from fossil fuels) to make a litre of ethanol than a litre ethanol is capable of producing. Throw in the destruction of parts and equipment and it's really dumb product.

[David Dunlop]

Robert. Interesting comments on AVGAS.

In the past 10 years, a couple of B-17's have dropped by at the local aviation museum for visits. Sally B was one, I cannot recall the other at the moment. In chatting with both crews about the rising costs of gas and oil and the availability of parts these days I was surprised by their comments. Both stated their was still enough interest and support from the general public to continue funding operating expenses each year with no problem. Also, there are apparently enough spare parts sources still around to keep the existing global fleet of B-17's flying for many decades to come.

What had both groups a bit nervous about the long term future of flying vintage piston powered military aircraft, was the slow and steady decline in octane rating for avgas. Something which I had not thought of at all. These great engines can still run on today's avgas, but they are not able to produce the power levels they were designed for during the war. With that handicap, there performance is a lot less, which directly affects what the aircraft can do in certain flight situations. Both crews felt that any further decline in octane ratings may soon result in these aircraft no longer able to fly/perform safely.

I could be wrong, but I think wartime avgas ratings were up around 130 to 140. When I was a kid. BA Oil sold premium automotive gas with a rating of 98. Things have definitely changed.

David

[Phil Waterman]

Hi David

One of the guya in our local MV club is a aviation mechanic, for couple of years he was working on restoring a Supper G Constellation for Lufftansa one of the issues they had already reallized that they would have to derate the engines because of the availablity of high octane AVGAS just isnt there any more. Major impact was on takeoff weights and throttle settings.

Cheers Phil

On the topic of Ethanol in todays fuel one of the guys in our club just had a problem with brand new fuel injected rated hose going soft on the first tank of gas. Cause is still unknown was it E85 fuel, or fuel with much higher ethanol than the pump rated amount. Or was it miss market fuel line.