Summer gas!

[CROSSBOLT]

Finally got 75 mpg yesterday! This signals "summer gas" is finally in the gas station tanks after they FINALLY sold all the "winter gas" with the secret additives that cot mileage down to 68 to 71 mpg.

[Stig / Major Tom]

In dead of winter I see "range" as low as 285 miles in our Scion....which goes up to 308 in the summer!

I idle my scoots and goof with the camera too much to check their mileage any longer

Stig

[Kansas kymco]

If your vechicle is Fuel Injected cold air is more dense so you get more air into the cylinder the computer then adds more fuel for the added air .  Winter blend gasoline may also add butane as a octane booster that would lead to high  vapor pressure of a summer. The maximum vapor pressure for  raw gasolive  is 11.8# @ 100F. Diesel of a winter in cold states add kerosene to keep the fuel from gelling  hence winter blend which is more expensive and less mpg. Gasoline additives are dependent on the specs of the company purchasing the fuel and are added at the truck rack.

Crossbolt being a pilot I'm surprised you wouldn't know this since dense cold air provides more lift.  When Phoenix was over 127F they grounded commercial flights.

It also was the cause of a small plane crash that killed a family a good friend of mine knew.

On the plus side your scooter will make more power in cold weather.

[pa-outdoorsman]

If your vechicle is Fuel Injected cold air is more dense so you get more air into the cylinder the computer then adds more fuel for the added air .  Winter blend gasoline may also add butane as a octane booster that would lead to high  vapor pressure of a summer. The maximum vapor pressure for  raw gasolive  is 11.8# @ 100F. Diesel of a winter in cold states add kerosene to keep the fuel from gelling  hence winter blend which is more expensive and less mpg. Gasoline additives are dependent on the specs of the company purchasing the fuel and are added at the truck rack.

Crossbolt being a pilot I'm surprised you wouldn't know this since dense cold air provides more lift.  When Phoenix was over 127F they grounded commercial flights.

It also was the cause of a small plane crash that killed a family a good friend of mine knew.

On the plus side your scooter will make more power in cold weather.

I believe the aviation world is where the term "hot and heavy" originated, much to the dismay of those who feel it is some kind of sexual reference. When the weather is too warm (and hence, the air is thin) and a plane is loaded with too much cargo (or passengers), it's not a good combination.

[Stig / Major Tom]

 'heat' played heck some days with a helicopter's ability to lift different payloads in Vietnam. And sometimes they just could not hover for a penetrator device or basket to go down.
Flew with some pilots who could take an over-loaded Huey on a hot day - and run it across the ground or PSP....or down a long grassy slope until something they called 'ground effect' came into play --- and the Huey would fairly 'leap' ......and we're flying...and breathing again. Come in so hard we'd bend the skids if there wasn't room to land like a airplane.

They did this so many times when trying to evac critically wounded. Taking too much fire to even consider making a second or third approach to a hot LZ - they would touch down and have wounded tossed and loaded and unceremoniously piled in and then pull the temps and revs into the RED....move forward, sometimes whacking off tree limbs and dive down the ridge...and by God we were away!

Bear in mind the ages of these pilot warrant officers. They had to be between 18 and 28, if I recall, but most were right around 20>22 yrs old. Crazy young bucks - and the youngsters who flew with them (crew chief, gunners and medic) could be just as goofy. But, don't mistake that for lack of professionalism. These guys took their jobs very seriously...and were good at it.

Anyway. Yeah heat and flying don't always work well together.
Stig

[CROSSBOLT]

If your vechicle is Fuel Injected cold air is more dense so you get more air into the cylinder the computer then adds more fuel for the added air .  Winter blend gasoline may also add butane as a octane booster that would lead to high  vapor pressure of a summer. The maximum vapor pressure for  raw gasolive  is 11.8# @ 100F. Diesel of a winter in cold states add kerosene to keep the fuel from gelling  hence winter blend which is more expensive and less mpg. Gasoline additives are dependent on the specs of the company purchasing the fuel and are added at the truck rack.

Crossbolt being a pilot I'm surprised you wouldn't know this since dense cold air provides more lift.  When Phoenix was over 127F they grounded commercial flights.

It also was the cause of a small plane crash that killed a family a good friend of mine knew.

On the plus side your scooter will make more power in cold weather.

Perfectly aware of density altitude, ergo, cold air more lift. Even saved a dumb-a$$ doctor after he tried a high density altitude take off without any power recovery technique. Well, he lucked out(that is to say God helped him to struggle back to the ground in one piece!). I just went to pick his passenger and him up to bring them home.

Cold air more power than warm air. But back in my flying days no changes were made to the fuel for summer and winter like these days. Oxyination(sp?), MTBE and EPA whatnot shaves power and mileage down for ground pounders. This year was a bumper crop of winter gasoline because a lot of activity was cut by covid panic, I guess. Usually does not take this long to see the mpg jump back up....

[Kansas kymco]

I owe Crossbolt a apologie, when I read it it came off rude not what I intended. 

[JJJoseph]

sometimes whacking off tree limbs

The maintenance types got really annoyed when pilots would do this!

[CROSSBOLT]

I owe Crossbolt a apologie, when I read it it came off rude not what I intended.

Naahh! But accepted anyway! Those fuel concoctions were news to me, anyhow! By the way, were you aware that EAA, Experimental Aircraft Association, conducted privately funded tests and demonstrations for over 20 years to finally gain approval for auto gas in aircraft? The switch from the standard grades of aviation fuel in use since before WWII to 100LL was overnight with the FAA saying nothing except the petro companies decide what is to be available for avgas.

[Kansas kymco]

Naahh! But accepted anyway! Those fuel concoctions were news to me, anyhow! By the way, were you aware that EAA, Experimental Aircraft Association, conducted privately funded tests and demonstrations for over 20 years to finally gain approval for auto gas in aircraft? The switch from the standard grades of aviation fuel in use since before WWII to 100LL was overnight with the FAA saying nothing except the petro companies decide what is to be available for avgas.

Was completely unaware of that. Use to be common for racers to purchase their fuel at the airport years ago.