For years, the general-aviation community has worried over how to replace 100LL. Finally, in June the FAA announced that it wants to see proposals for new fuels and will start a process to test them. The traditional leaded fuel is under attack from the Environmental Protection Agency and others worried about the toxins released into the atmosphere when it combusts. Plus, the sources for the fuel are considered uncertain, especially as the demand falls year by year. The FAA asked fuel producers to submit data for evaluation by July 1, 2014, and by September, 2014, the agency will select up to 10 candidates for testing. The second phase of testing will take up to five years. The FAA says it may not be “technically feasible” to find a true drop-in replacement for 100LL that will work fleet-wide. GA advocates, however, welcomed the start of a process that promises to keep the search moving forward.
Operation Migration has been using ultralight aircraft to help train wild birds to migrate for almost two decades, but now the nonprofit group faces a challenge — the FAA says since the highly trained pilots are salaried employees, they must have at least private pilot certificates and the aircraft must be SLSA compliant. The group is using the crowdsourcing site Indiegogo to appeal to the public for support, with a goal of raising $84,700 by July 26 to help buy three new aircraft. Although some sites require that the entire goal be realized before any funds are paid, Indiegogo will contribute to Operation Migration all the funds collected by the deadline. By June 25, the donations were more than a third of the way to the goal.
