Swift Fuels’ 100R unleaded avgas given international thumbs up

A huge step forwards for 100-octane unleaded avgas was made last week when the American Society for Testing and Materials – better known as ASTM International – approved Swift Fuels’ 100R unleaded avgas.

“This is the culmination of several years of dedicated research by the team from Swift Fuels working in collaboration with FAA and numerous OEMs from Lycoming, Continental Aerospace, Rotax, Textron Aviation, Piper, and others, plus testing laboratories and various aviation part suppliers,” said Swift Fuels.

Members of the ASTM voting committees represent several hundred companies from around the world including major international oil companies plus fuel experts and representatives from military and civilian entities.

The ASTM production specification approval is likely to speed up adoption of the 100R unleaded avgas across international markets and help Swift Fuels to scale up production and distribution of the fuel.

At the moment, distribution is limited to five flight schools in the US, and another five flight schools in the EU (Germany, Belgium, Austria and The Netherlands).

The first flight school in Europe to start using Swift’s 100R was AAG Flight Academy at Ganderkesee Airport (EDWQ) in Lower Saxony, Germany. There’s an STC (supplemental type certificate) from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the Lycoming IO-360-L2A engine used in the Cessna 172S and R.

Ralf Sauer, managing director of AAG Flight School told Flieger magazine, “A passion for flying and innovative solutions are part of our company’s DNA. This is especially true when it comes to investments in environmentally friendly and sustainable aviation.”

He continued, “When Bollinger Aviation [the European distributor for Swift Fuels] offered us the opportunity to become the first European user of unleaded AVGAS in training and charter operations, we immediately responded with a ‘yes’ – after all, our AAG Flight Academy has a C172S with a suitable engine.”

Swift Fuels says it expects to rapidly expand the coverage of 100R at many more sites across the globe in the weeks and months ahead.