The great thing about Oshkosh is that everybody who is anybody in aviation is there, and in that environment hanging around the world’s busiest airport for a week, there is plenty of time to talk. Because of the variety of people and the time we all have, I probably learn more at Oshkosh than any place else the rest of the year.
One of my most revealing conversations was with Craig Sincock, the founder and CEO of Avfuel. Between Avfuel and Phillips 66, they dominate the market for 100LL avgas. Some of the major oil companies sell more jet fuel, but when it comes to avgas, Craig knows as much, and probably more, than anyone else. Craig, like other industry leaders, understands that forces are growing that will end the use of leaded fuel sooner than later. He doesn’t know when that day will come, but he spends a great deal of time planning for the change. And what he knows is that manufacturing the fuel is not the hard part. The real challenge is everything necessary to get uncontaminated fuel of a 100 percent consistent quality from the manufacturer into aircraft fuel tanks.
