Guest JRMobile Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Recieved a letter from Shell Aviation Fuel Facilities today with more bad news for avgas users,GA, or flying in general. I quote: "I write to advise that Shell has withdrawn, or is the process of withdrawing its aviation refuelling facilites at ten regional airports across Australia." "Over the past few years demand for aviation fuel at several airports around Australia has declined. At the same time, the cost of maintaining aviation facilities to increasingly strict standards has risen. As a result, Shell is closing its operations at ten airports." Could this be another symptom of the over-regulation that is making GA unaffordable for many, leading to a decline in GA flying. Which in turn is coming back to haunt us in RAAus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeK Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 The airports involved are: Lethbridge, Coffs Harbour, Horn Island, Yarrawonga, Deniliquin, Parafield, Karumba, Bamaga, Mount Gambier and Point Cook. Apart from money hungry oil companies, is this a sign of GA in decline - a bit of a spiral, declining pilots and hours flown leading to cutbacks leading to decline, etc etc.? Seems to me that RA has an important role to play here in encouraging people back into aviation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Mind you it's only one company, however it's going to cause some problems at say Horn Is and Parafield ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorp Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Moboil Fuel are going to withdraw sale of avegas at Learmonth WA YPLM. Has anyone else heard off fuel closesure.Seems as if shell arnt the only one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerin Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Sometimes you wonder if it's worth living outside capital cities any more. I don't fly yet so I don't know how buying fuel at airports works. But I know there's not much money in selling fuel and a lot of country petrol stations basically do it as a community service. Country airports might be the same? But with the proposed environmental regime of auditing and monitoring underground fuel tanks for leaks (and the associated costs and paperwork), a lot of country servos won't be able to afford to continue selling fuel. It's going to make it hard to fly anywhere if the country airports don't have fuel and the local servo has closed down! Will Shell still be selling Jet A1 at these airports? Everyone might have to convert to diesels! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEON Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Big fuel tanks (100+L) seem to be the only way to travel. Makes the issue of legal load very important. Any aircraft that cannot carry 250+kg total is rearly not a 2 pax touring machine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 BP bailed out of a few last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerin Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Some here seemed to think that the proposed RAAus weight increases would just allow old GA aircraft into RAAus. I think it will be important in the future just to be able to carry more fuel (and strengthen the airframe to be able to carry it). Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 screw them right up and buy a Yuneec. you would probably have the same range and the recharge time would be about the same if you had to wait for the refueller to turn up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 The Savannah with the 150 ltr long range tanks makes for comfortable, no worry xcountry travelling, and you don't seem to really notice the extra on takeoff. (100hp) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wags Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 US military phasing out Avgas (100LL). After 2013 the US military will no longer have a need for Avgas... what will that do to world wide supplies? More and more suppliers of Avgas from drums are requiring you to purchase 200 ltrs minimum (a full drum) - too bad if your tanks only hold 130 ltrs or less. The up-and-coming engines are the new diesels. Have a look here... DeltaHawk Diesel Engines Six new owners of the Glastar Sportsman 2+2... Glasair Aviation are fitting the Delta Hawk 200 HP version, resulting in longer range on same volume over Avgas, lower fuel consumption and higher torque. A big plus in all areas. Diesels make sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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