Ethanol Taken to New Heights
The
head of a project researching the use of alternative aviation fuels doesn't
merely promote the use of ethanol fuel in aircraft, he's flying with
it.
Max Shauck, chairman of the Baylor University Department of Aviation
Sciences, uses ethanol fuel in the modified Pitts S-2B Biplane that he operates
at air shows to show the trustworthiness of the alternative fuel.
Shauck
doesn't limit his use of ethanol as an aviation fuel to flying in air shows,
though. In 1989, he and his wife, Grazia Zanin, became the first to fly an
ethanol-fueled plane across the Atlantic Ocean.
He said that
piston-driven aircraft can be modified to use ethanol, which burns cleaner than
aviation fuel and can extend engine performance.
Shauck said that
although ethanol appears to be the only viable alternative to using leaded fuels
for aviation, increasing the use of the fuel is thwarted by few airports having
ethanol pumps. Even after more pilots become assured of the safety of ethanol, a network of ethanol-stocked
air fields must be in place before many will modify
their airplanes' engines.
