3 ms·

What is "GA"?

• coryrc 7y ago
  General Aviation; the same people that lobby to keep using leaded fuels.
  • upofadown 7y ago
    That's a bit too harsh. The GA people are lobbying to continue to be able to fly their aircraft. The FAA has been sitting on the problem of non-leaded avgas for something like 30 years now. The GA people don't like being exposed to lead any more than anyone else.
    • coryrc 7y ago
      Yes, harsh on people literally choosing to spray a neurotoxic heavy metal compound over populated areas for their fun. Their advocacy is the roadblock to the adoption of safer fuels.
      • mlyle 7y ago
        I think we'd all rather burn cheaper / more prevalent gas than a leaded fuel that is the output of specialty refining. We're not allowed to by regulation, though, and furthermore present solutions would also endanger safety in a big slice of aircraft. The fleet of general aviation aircraft is really old, after all.
      • upofadown 7y ago
        It doesn't actually accumulate in any particular area. There was a study done at at an airport that showed no particular accumulation at the airport. Leaded gas ends up poisoning the whole world a bit. This "dilution is the solution to pollution" argument is the excuse the FAA uses for forcing everyone to use leaded avgas. This should be more of a scandal. The FAA is basically helping maintain a harmful oil company monopoly at the expense of the world. This is not just about recreational aircraft. For example, 45% of the Canadian commercial fleet is piston engine based. Incidentally, Canada was involved in a test program with the FAA for leaded fuel replacements. The FAA recently dropped out of that program.
• reaperducer 7y ago
  General aviation.