It's shameful the EPA still hasn't banned leaded aviation fuel.
I don't find anything disagreeable about the EPA refraining from spending my taxes on low impact things to appease people who just want to see a feel good message be sent.
https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-airport-lead-levels-ar...
Although the absolute risk is probably small the aviation industry should have moved faster on this issue. Airplanes last longer than cars but they can't expect the status quo to be tolerated indefinitely. At some point airplane owners need to be forced to upgrade their engines, or quit flying.
It's not about the owners, at all. Airplanes already have a limit on how many hours their engines have, after that it needs to be overhauled or replaced.
It's just that, for many planes, there aren't really any options available, as other engines are not certified for their planes.
Even for the planes that _are_ certified and can be changed to use other fuels, most airports don't have them available (even "mogas", which is automotive gasoline with no ethanol, is difficult to find).
(Rec fuel is a name used in Michigan at least for ethanol free gasoline intended for use in snowmobiles and boats and such)
That is false. It is a "relief" airport precisely because it is close to SJC. That allows slower traffic to land in RHRV instead of SJC. It is a real airport. Has two runways, air traffic control and what have you. What's the threshold for a 'real airport'?
There's a lot of "phenomenally valuable" land nearby with only dirt and maybe trees growing on it. There are parks and wilderness areas. Should we turn them into businesses and houses just because real state values are up?
Without a workable (technically and legally) replacement fuel, banning 100LL was never going to be viable IMO.
I wonder how much lead this exposes me to. (I'm working on a private pilot license in a Cessna 172)
I just got my test results back, since I'm having some odd symptoms and my doctor's kinda throwing ideas at the wall. He asked, jokingly, if there was a chance anyone was trying to poison me with arsenic.
I said no, but I do a lot of soldering (like a LOT), and I make a point not to chew on my solder or wear the iron behind my ear like a pencil, but who knows whether the dust is getting absorbed or whatever. What the heck, let's check for it.
My level came back at "less than 1" µg/dl, which I guess is as far down as that particular measurement can go. So that's cool, seems my precautions are adequate.