Aviation Fuel--It took me by surprise, but where I live shouldn't have

[donkaye]

I got a letter yesterday from the director of airports at Reid Hillview and San Martin titled "No 100LL Available at RHV or E16 after 12/31/2021".  With the liberals here in California and in particular Santa Clara County, and the even more liberals on the County Board of Supervisors who have been trying to get rid of Reid Hillview for years, this is the perfect way to help get rid of it sooner.  As I said in an email to him today, "If the powers to be believe that 100 airplanes flying out of Reid Hillview can put enough lead into the atmosphere to have a meaningful impact on the health of the population, I have a bridge I'm willing to sell them."

Listening to George Braly from Gami on Social Flight this evening we can expect to pay a minimum of an extra dollar a gallon for the new fuel, which isn't even available for the higher performance airplanes right now.  He expects it to be a least a year until it's available for those aircraft.

Your airport is next.....

[Tony Starke]

Welcome to the great reset. By 2030 you will own nothing and you will be happy. 

[N201MKTurbo]

Wow, I’m in Cali working right now. This state is nuts! I remember when this place was a paradise, but not any more. The last time I was at Ried Hillview I was appalled by the condition of the place. The runways and taxiways were fine but the roads and parking lots were disgusting. I asked the FBO owner about it and he said the county is trying to ruin the place. They won’t spend a penny to fix anything and prohibit the FBOs from doing it themselves. There has to be some FAA regulation that prohibits them from denying services to airplanes.

 

[donkaye]

BTW, I forgot to mention that the County (AKA the Government) will be taking over all fuel concessions.  No private fuel concessions.

[Hank]

1 minute ago, donkaye said:

BTW, I forgot to mention that the County (AKA the Government) will be taking over all fuel concessions.  No private fuel concessions.

Vote 'em out!  Sorry SOBs . . . .

[hammdo]

52 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Wow, I’m in Cali working right now. This state is nuts! I remember when this place was a paradise, but not any more. The last time I was at Ried Hillview I was appalled by the condition of the place. The runways and taxiways were fine but the roads and parking lots were disgusting. I asked the FBO owner about it and he said the county is trying to ruin the place. They won’t spend a penny to fix anything and prohibit the FBOs from doing it themselves. There has to be some FAA regulation that prohibits them from denying services to airplanes.

 

Remember what Chicago did to Meigs field -- even with FAA money allocated and required to be spent for the field...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

 

'Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley forced the closing of Meigs in 2003 by ordering the overnight bulldozing of its runway without notice, in violation of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.'

AND what did the FAA  do?

-Don

[N201MKTurbo]

38 minutes ago, hammdo said:

Remember what Chicago did to Meigs field -- even with FAA money allocated and required to be spent for the field...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

 

'Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley forced the closing of Meigs in 2003 by ordering the overnight bulldozing of its runway without notice, in violation of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.'

AND what did the FAA  do?

-Don

N. S.

Meigs was the third landing when I bought my first Mooney. It was a gem! Now it is a park that nobody uses. I should just land on the grass one of these days.

[Bolter]

1 hour ago, donkaye said:

BTW, I forgot to mention that the County (AKA the Government) will be taking over all fuel concessions.  No private fuel concessions.

I wonder if that precludes buying fuel in bulk between a few (or many) hangar buddies.  Store it in a surplus fuel truck (mobile and cheaper than installing a tank).  A fuel union.  California likes unions.  

[McMooney]

2 hours ago, donkaye said:

I got a letter yesterday from the director of airports at Reid Hillview and San Martin titled "No 100LL Available at RHV or E16 after 12/31/2021".  With the F***ing liberals here in California and in particular Santa Clara County, and the even more F***ing liberals on the County Board of Supervisors who have been trying to get rid of Reid Hillview for years, this is the perfect way to help get rid of it sooner.  As I said in an email to him today, "If the powers to be believe that 100 airplanes flying out of Reid Hillview can put enough lead into the atmosphere to have a meaningful impact on the health of the population, I have a bridge I'm willing to sell them."

Listening to George Braly from Gami on Social Flight this evening we can expect to pay a minimum of an extra dollar a gallon for the new fuel, which isn't even available for the higher performance airplanes right now.  He expects it to be a least a year until it's available for those aircraft.

Your airport is next.....

smh, what would u expect?  an expensive piece of property serving the Rich few???????  there's money behind it, while they get you to blame "Liberals"

[Rusty Pilot]

Sorry this is happening to the aviation community in CA, but other parts of the county are moving less rapidly against 100LL.  Hopefully we have a long time before we see that happen in VA and WV where I do most of my flying.  I am strongly committed to flying and would have to consider relocating.  TX is nice!

[steingar]

Land in Kalifornia is valuable.  The local govco can get way more money out of it from developers turning it into that many more condos and sports bars than they can for an airport.  So they do everything they can to strangle the airport out of existence.  Isn't the first, won't be the last.  We're a laughably small minority about which no one gives even one fraction of a damn.

That is, until the big earthquake hits, which it will.  At that point the only way to get aid in will be airports, of which there'll be none.  While the media cries over the horrible conditions and loss of life a small very evil part of me will be silently laughing.

 

[tmo]

9 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Now it is a park that nobody uses.

Oh, they use it, just not for what it was intended...

[RobertGary1]

Honestly I dont think rhv will be around much longer to be a big deal. The county board already voted to close it and the FAA is no longer is fighting these things. 
 

[rahill]

This is super annoying, but to blast it as a California problem is short sighted.  Reid Hillview, along with other urban airports nation-wide, have been threatened by development and other issues for decades.  The lead issue is the latest weapon in the arsenal against the airports, and frankly it's a little surprising it's taken this long.  Leaded auto fuels were phased out in the US 45 years ago.  Read the lead report that Santa Clara County commissioned. You could see the conclusion before it was even presented, but there are countless arguments about the effects of what were thought to be trivial lead levels being an issue. Was it biased and predetermined - yes, it seems so - but the counter arguments seem cold-hearted, poorly thought out, and aren't helping much.  What would be needed is a comparable report proving that the lead from 100LL is not an issue. Removing 100LL from the airport is no-doubt going to cause major inconveniences and possibly safety hazards, but it's the county's immediate response to the issue.  

Don't dismiss this as a "liberal CA thing", it's been simmering for a long time.

[MooneyMitch]

Very unfortunate (lots of expletives can also be used too, but forum unfriendly)!

Smart move by supervisiors....... obviously they’re studied the closing process used by Santa Monica City Council over the years.

Yes, vote them out (tried that in SMO).....take it to the voters ( good luck with that, also tried unsuccessfully in SMO).

Money, yes, is the core route, mostly always.  
 

Fight to the end though!!!! 

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by MooneyMitch

[EricJ]

51 minutes ago, rahill said:

Don't dismiss this as a "liberal CA thing", it's been simmering for a long time.

These days it is unfashionable to not jerk the political knee about things that annoy us. 

[MooneyMitch]

Suggestion..... to keep this meaningful thread alive for positive constructive comments on this very sad move by Santa Clara County Supervisors, and  in keeping with MS policy, possibly edit original post by removing political comments.

Fight the good and worthy fight !

[donkaye]

23 minutes ago, MooneyMitch said:

Suggestion..... to keep this meaningful thread alive for positive constructive comments on this very sad move by Santa Clara County Supervisors, and  in keeping with MS policy, possibly edit original post by removing political comments.

Fight the good and worthy fight !

OK, Mitch, I deleted two words, but that doesn't change the truth of the matter.

[ilovecornfields]

It’s only going to get worse once the unleaded aviation fuel is approved. Right now you can make the argument there’s no alternative and GA is vital to the community, etc. When there’s an unleaded option that’s only $4/gal more it’ll be hard to get public sympathy for rich airplane owners wanting to save money by poisoning the air.

I wish Continental made a 350 HP turbo diesel that would fit on the Ovation. With 89 gal you could fly for a long time.

[MooneyMitch]

9 minutes ago, donkaye said:

OK, Mitch, I deleted two words, but that doesn't change the truth of the matter.

Completely understand your frustrations.  This is not confined to RHV, by any means, we all know this too painfully. 

[LANCECASPER]

15 hours ago, donkaye said:

I got a letter yesterday from the director of airports at Reid Hillview and San Martin titled "No 100LL Available at RHV or E16 after 12/31/2021".  With the liberals here in California and in particular Santa Clara County, and the even more liberals on the County Board of Supervisors who have been trying to get rid of Reid Hillview for years, this is the perfect way to help get rid of it sooner.  As I said in an email to him today, "If the powers to be believe that 100 airplanes flying out of Reid Hillview can put enough lead into the atmosphere to have a meaningful impact on the health of the population, I have a bridge I'm willing to sell them."

Listening to George Braly from Gami on Social Flight this evening we can expect to pay a minimum of an extra dollar a gallon for the new fuel, which isn't even available for the higher performance airplanes right now.  He expects it to be a least a year until it's available for those aircraft.

Your airport is next.....

The Texas Hill Country awaits you Don 

[GeeBee]

It only confirms my decision to leave the California and in particular San Jose in 1990. I could see the direction things were going.

 

[FlyingScot]

Doesn't SJSU operate a flying School out of RHV? Any word as to what they are going to do? Seems like they could be a strong voice in this - 

[rahill]

26 minutes ago, FlyingScot said:

Doesn't SJSU operate a flying School out of RHV? Any word as to what they are going to do? Seems like they could be a strong voice in this - 

The flight schools at RHV have largely switched to UL94 fuel, and had so before this latest announcement in an attempt to be a proactive solution to the problem.  That works for a lot of people, including many (all?) of the carbureted Mooneys, but it's not available for fuel injected Mooneys.

[EricJ]

19 minutes ago, rahill said:

The flight schools at RHV have largely switched to UL94 fuel, and had so before this latest announcement in an attempt to be a proactive solution to the problem.  That works for a lot of people, including many (all?) of the carbureted Mooneys, but it's not available for fuel injected Mooneys.

That was probably an influence on the decision to stop 100LL sales, which we already know is gonna happen ultimately everywhere.