Fully Unleaded Fuel Is an Aviation First for UVU School of Aviation
UT – The School of Aviation Sciences at Utah Valley University (UVU) is switching to fully unleaded aviation fuel for its training fleet. This makes them the first college fight training program in the United States to make this move.
While unleaded fuel has been used in vehicles for the past 50 years, it’s not the standard in piston-engine aircraft. Traditionally, these planes require a higher-octane fuel with a lead additive. Swift Fuels has developed UL94, a lead-free version of aviation fuel. Swift Fuels and UVU are partnering together to work on proving that UL94 is a viable option and that it can have some added benefits over leaded fuel.
UL94 is currently the only 100% aviation-grade unleaded fuel, and it’s FAA-certified for aviation use in 125,000+ piston aircraft, that’s roughly 68% of the U.S. piston fleet. In addition, lead-free fuel burns cleaner, doesn’t require oil changes and maintenance as frequently, it’s mixable with 100LL fuel and doesn’t use dangerous or corrosive components to increase octane.
Not only will engines run more smoothly with UL94, but it’s also anticipated that mandatory aircraft inspections will require fewer man-hours and maintenance costs will be drastically reduced. This is hoped to result in aircraft downtime and more efficient and cost-effective student training.
While there are many mechanical benefits to switching away from leaded fuel, one external benefit is that UL94 is more environmentally friendly. In addition to being better for the environment, it eliminates or reduces the exposure to leaded fuel that some students and employees have.
Utah Valley University’s School of Aviation Sciences has been in operation since 1988 and has trained and educated thousands of FAA-certified pilots and aviation Professionals. Located in Provo, Utah, the school has a state-of-the-art facility with a fleet of 24 aircraft, including the Diamond DA40 XLT and the Piper PA-44 Seminole – both types of aircraft are approved for UL94 use.