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Being in the fuel biz, I spend a lot of time dealing with fuel quality and testing. One of the things we do when receiving a load of fuel, either from a tanker or barge, is test the API gravity to confirm it matches the refinery paperwork. For those that don't know the gravity is just that, what the stuff weighs. However, the American Petroleum Institute turns it into a nonsensical number that make no sense, the bigger the number, the lighter the fluid... And this brings me to the reason behind this post. For those that burn auto gas do you take into account the difference in weight between 100LL and UL Regular? It's actually more than one would first think, roughly 8% more. A 60 gallon fill up from the corner gas station will leave your plane close to 30lbs heavier than the FBO's blue stuff.
We all know Jet weighs more, but it's a bit counterintuitive there would be that much difference between a couple grades of gas. I thought about it the other day after watching a student carefully calculate down to the 1/10 of a gallon how much fuel she could have, all the while using an incorrect (FAA accepted) weight for the fuel.
Jeff
We all know Jet weighs more, but it's a bit counterintuitive there would be that much difference between a couple grades of gas. I thought about it the other day after watching a student carefully calculate down to the 1/10 of a gallon how much fuel she could have, all the while using an incorrect (FAA accepted) weight for the fuel.
Jeff
