Participants in the newly-formed Eagle project stress that the growing threats to the leaded-avgas dependent fleet in the U.S. and abroad create a new urgency for widespread adoption of a drop-in replacement unleaded aviation gasoline by 2030,

Unveiled on February 23 at the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s (GAMA) annual State of the Industry review, Eagle will bring together government and industry to research and test such a replacement, develop an approval process, and establish a distribution path.

During a webinar this week moderated by Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) senior v-p of media, communications, and outreach Tom Haines, general aviation leaders acknowledged that the announcement of the new program raised a number of questions: key among them was how it differed from past efforts.

But GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce responded that the program builds on past efforts, including lessons learned, and broadens the scope to include participation from the American Petroleum Institute, American Association of Airports Executives, and notably the FAA. This will provide for more consistent funding, Bunce said.

AOPA president and CEO Mark Baker added that the program also reflects a renewed urgency as the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to issue an endangerment finding for leaded avgas as early as next year, setting the stage for a ban altogether. Further, European regulators and certain communities in the U.S. are attempting to move forward on such bans.

Among them is Santa Clara County, which has banned leaded fuel at Reid-Hillview Airport—which it has long wanted to close—as well as San Martin Airport. County executives have noted the availability of Swift 94UL. But Baker is concerned that this presents a safety issue since many engines cannot run on 94UL, and opens the possibility of misfuelling.

However, both Baker and Bunce expressed encouragement on efforts already underway to research possible unleaded fuel. They noted General Aviation Modifications Inc. (GAMI) has been obtaining supplemental type certification for use of its G100UL fuel and Swift is progressing on development of a 100UL fuel, among other efforts.

At the same time, Bunce said, “We haven’t found a silver bullet.” While Eagle is agnostic to who develops and produces the drop-in replacement, Bunce said the fuel itself needs to be fully vetted and the process must have transparency to enable widespread adoption. Otherwise, manufacturers may not accept it and users could risk cancelation of warranties.

Baker, however, noted that 2030 is an end-goal, but suggested that such a replacement could come sooner given the promising work ongoing with the suppliers.