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Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:36:21 -0700
From: Dale Rogers <dale.r@cox.net>
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To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Re: Ethanol production
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It was serious in that I currently drive about 25K miles per year, 
significantly down from the 48K that I was doing from 1980 through 
2005.  Most of it, since 1995, has been in central Arizona (~100 mile 
radius of Phoenix), but I have regular occasion to service accounts 
further out, like Bullhead City, Showlow, and Thatcher; plus I back up 
engineers in Tucson and Las Vegas, NV.  Highway 17 (between Phoenix and 
Flagstaff) sees about half a dozen car fires a year.  The Phoenix area 
has seen at least two in the last eight weeks, one blocking I-10 this 
morning.

Yes, I've seen far more car fires in Arizona in 13 years than I did in 
the previous 29 years in California, where, much of the time, I was 
driving more than twice as much.

Dale R.

Mike Wills wrote:
> Not sure just how serious you were with that comment. To answer your 
> question, over the past several years I can recall seeing a grand 
> total of one car fire on the side of the road. I live in southern Cal 
> and drive about 20K miles/year. Given the number of cars I've seen on 
> the road over the past few years (probably hundreds of thousands if 
> not millions) versus the number of car fires I've seen (1) I like my 
> statistical odds in this unscientific analysis even if that one fire 
> was related to ethanol use (which obviously is not at all clear).
>
> Your own personal anecdotal fuel system issues while scary, have no 
> proven linkage to ethanol in the fuel used. Could simply be another 
> example of shoddy workmanship, poor engineering, or any of a thousand 
> things. Too bad you couldnt recover the defective parts to come up 
> with a definitive explanation.
>
> Given the on the edge nature of the average rotary engine aircraft 
> installation, the small statistical base, and the relatively large 
> number of issues and teething troubles we see during early taxi and 
> flight testing, I think there are far more significant things to worry 
> about than ethanol in the fuel.
>
> What I'd really like to see is some of the higher time guys (Tracy, 
> Dave Leonard, etc...) who routinely burn Mogas tells us what their 
> experience has been.
>
> Mike Wills
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dale Rogers" <dale.r@cox.net>
> To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
> Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 11:07 AM
> Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Ethanol production
>
>
>> Mike Wills wrote:
>>> I dont recall seeing scores of cars pulled over on the shoulder of 
>>> the road with failures directly attributable to ethanol use.
>>
>> You haven't?  I don't understand how you've missed them - the columns 
>> of black smoke should have pointed straight to them.
>>
>> Maybe you only drive at night?  |;)
>>
>> Okay, there was a bit of hyperbole there, but I can't help but wonder 
>> if the increased numbers of on-the-road car fires I'm seeing as I 
>> cruise the freeways of AZ and NV isn't due, in part, to alcohol.