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The Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today asked the world's fuel producers to submit proposals for fuel options that would help the general aviation industry make a transition to an unleaded fuel. The FAA is committed to the development a new unleaded fuel by 2018 that would minimize the impact of replacing 100 octane low-lead fuel for most of the general aviation fleet.
The FAA will assess the viability of candidate fuels in terms of their impact on the existing fleet, their production and distribution infrastructure, their impact on the environment and toxicology, and economic considerations.
"General aviation is vital to the U.S. economy and is an important form of transportation for many Americans," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "We need to work with industry develop an unleaded fuel that advances aviation safety and improves the environment."
The FAA is asking fuel producers to submit by July 1, 2014, data packages for candidate replacement unleaded fuel formulations for evaluation by the FAA. By Sept. 1, 2014, the FAA will select up to 10 suppliers to participate in phase one laboratory testing at the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center. The FAA will select as many as two fuels from phase one for phase two engine and aircraft testing. That testing will generate standardized qualification and certification data for candidate fuels, along with property and performance data. Over the next five years, the FAA will ask fuel producers to submit 100 gallons of fuel for phase one testing and 10,000 gallons of fuel for phase two testing.
The FAA knows the general aviation community and the Environmental Protection Agency are focused on this issue, and we look forward to collaborating with fuel producers to make an unleaded avgas available for the general aviation fleet," said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.
The President's 2014 budget includes $5.6 million in research and development funding for the William J. Hughes Technical Center to conduct the fuels evaluation testing. Candidate fuel testing will be funded by the government and in-kind industry contributions, in a multi-year program.
To date FAA has tested over 279 fuel formulations in an attempt to find a "drop-in" solution, which would require no aircraft or engine modifications. Today's request responds to the July 2012 Unleaded Avgas Transition Aviation Rulemaking Committee report to the FAA, which noted that a "drop-in" unleaded replacement fuel is unavailable and may not be technically feasible. That is why an industry-government initiative called the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI) will facilitate the development and deployment of a new unleaded avgas with the least impact on the existing piston-engine aircraft fleet. PAFI is key to the selection and implementation of an unleaded fuel across the existing general aviation fleet. The FAA and industry-group leaders also recently formed the PAFI Steering Group (PSG), tofacilitate, coordinate, expedite, promote and oversee the PAFI.
There are approximately 167,000 aircraft in the United States and a total of 230,000 worldwide that rely on 100 low lead avgas for safe operation. It is the only remaining transportation fuel in the United States that contains the addition of tetraethyl lead (TEL), a toxic substance, to create the very high octane levels needed for high-performance aircraft engines. Operations with inadequate octane can result in engine failures.
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St. Louis, a Symbolic Stopover and Homage to Aviation Pioneers
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St. Louis (MO) USA, June 04, 2013 - Solar Impulse, the solar-powered airplane landed in Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on Tuesday, June 4th. The completion of the third leg of the 2013 Across America mission also inaugurates the use of the inflatable mobile hangar, deployed for the first time during a mission. Landing in St. Louis brings Swiss pioneers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, a step closer to accomplishing the coast-to-coast crossing of the USA, with New York City as final destination. This was Bertrand Piccard's longest flight in the single-seat cockpit to date. The flight originated Monday, June 3rd from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport when Piccard took off at 04:06 a.m. CDT (Texas time). After 21 hours and 21 minutes, he landed the Solar Impulse prototype at 01:28 a.m. CDT Tuesday, June 4th at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. While Solar Impulse was on its way from Dallas to St. Louis, the rest of the Solar Impulse team had only a few hours to deploy the inflatable mobile hangar where the aircraft will be housed upon landing. Operating in real time mission conditions was a first for the project and an important milestone. The revolutionary structure has been conceived and designed by Solar Impulse for the around-the-world mission in 2015, but will now provide a shelter after last weekend's storm that severely damaged the hangar reserved for Solar Impulse at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. "We brought the inflatable hangar to the USA for testing purposes and in fact it allowed the mission to stay on schedule. This exercise is now a proof of concept: rather than taking the airplane to a hangar, we have taken the hangar to the airplane," said André Borschberg, Co-founder, CEO and pilot of Solar Impulse. The choice of St. Louis as the Solar Impulse Midwest stop was no coincidence. The city has played a significant role in the history of U.S. aviation back in the days when Charles Lindbergh was a chief pilot for the Chicago to St. Louis U.S. Mail Route. The city's business leaders, including the namesake of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Albert Bond Lambert, supported Lindbergh in his bid to make the first trans-Atlantic flight between New York and Paris in 1927 in the "Spirit of St. Louis." "It was particularly important for me to come to St. Louis because I was so inspired when I met Charles Lindbergh at Cape Canaveral during a launch of the Apollo when I was eleven years old. I'm truly moved to be able to land here today with Solar Impulse," said Bertrand Piccard, Initiator, Chairman and pilot of Solar Impulse shortly after landing. Solar Impulse wants to inspire everyone to become pioneers in their everyday lives. Its latest initiative, Clean Generation, is creating a global movement to promote the use of clean technologies and is already rallying thousands of people to support the adoption of sustainable energy solutions. The names of those who join this movement are carried on a USB key and transported in the cockpit across America as virtual passengers. Additionally, a flag displaying the Clean Generation slogan are carried by the pilots and handed over to civic leaders at each stop. The first two flags were handed over to the Governor of Arizona and Texas Secretary of State. All those interested in being part of this movement can sign up here: http://www.solarimpulse.com/join_us/. After St. Louis, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will continue to alternately pilot the solar airplane to reach Washington, D.C. and New York. Public Viewing and Visits The inflatable structure is still a prototype and doesn't permit visitors inside yet. To allow public visits and those corporations wishing to hold events during its stay in the Midwest stopover, Solar Impulse also decided to build a tent. The first public viewing is scheduled on Thursday 4 June from 9.00 am – 12.00 pm and a 2nd second occasion will be offered on Friday 9.00am – 1pm. Register here for Thursday and here for Friday. Depending on the length of stay in St Louis, which is weather dependent, additional viewings may be scheduled. Flight Report: Dallas/Fort Worth – Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Press Corner High-def pictures, press releases, background documents, HD footage of the flight can be downloaded at the following address:http://press.solarimpulse.com User: solar-impulse Password: zerofuelairplane-2012 The "Across America" mission at a glance:
Press contacts: Solar Impulse Email: press@solarimpulse.com Alexandra Gindroz | +41 58 219 24 40 | +1 408 609 0034 Alenka Zibetto | +41 58 219 25 37 | +41 79 415 82 84 About Solar Impulse Swiss pioneers Dr Bertrand Piccard (Chairman) and André Borschberg (CEO) are the founders, pilots and the driving force behind Solar Impulse, the first airplane that can fly day and night without fuel. Solar Impulse is a unique adventure that aims to bring emotions back at the heart of scientific exploration, a flying laboratory to find innovative technological solutions for today's challenges and a vision to inspire each of us to be pioneers in our everyday lives. This revolutionary carbon fibre airplane has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 (63.4m / 208 ft) and the weight of a small car (1,600kg / 3,527 lb). It is the result of seven years of intense work, calculations, simulations and tests by a team of about 80 people and 100 partners and advisors. A plane so big and light has never been built before. The 12,000 solar cells built into the wing provide four 10HP electric motors with renewable energy. By day the solar cells recharge the 400kg / 881 lb lithium batteries which allow the plane to fly at night. Notes to the editor
MOBILE HANGAR FACT SHEET
BACKGROUND INFORMATION What An innovative concept: an inflatable hangar conceived and designed by the Solar Impulse team to shelter the aircraft at stopovers along the circumnavigation of the globe in 2015. The textile chosen to build the hangar, although very resistant, is also thin enough to be translucent. This allows sunlight to shine through to charge the solar airplane's batteries. Significant research was invested in the concept to ensure high versatility, low weight, high resistance and easy transportation. Each module is a separate entity. How It took several years of research and analysis to find the appropriate material and the most efficient design to fit Solar Impulse project specificities. Thanks to direct collaboration and key support from Solar Impulse Main Partner Solvay, the mobile hangar is being used today. The first wind resistance tests were conducted in 2011 with the first prototype and the first time the aircraft was integrated into the structure was in early 2013. The first time the inflatable mobile hangar was deployed in real time mission conditions was at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in June 2013. Why Early on in the project the team identified a need for a very flexible solution to shelter the aircraft anywhere in the world with rapid deployment. The light weight of the aircraft requires appropriate protection from adverse weather conditions at all times, a requirement that would be difficult to satisfy at every airport along the 2015 around-the-world flight itinerary. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
