Posted on 02/20/2018 12:22:29 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
Germany's air fleet was grounded this week after "too much biodiesel" fuel found its ways into the gas tanks, according to German reports saying the Luftwaffe cannot safely fly with such a mixture.
Germany's Tornado fleet of war planes was reportedly grounded after an unsafe mixture including too much biodiesel was used to fuel the planes, requiring the fleet to be grounded and their fuel tanks flushed.
"The tolerance values are minimally exceeded," Colonel Kristof Conrath of the Tactical Air Force Squadron 51 was quoted as saying in media reports. "It's not that the aircraft would fall from the sky. For safety reasons, all tanks of the aircraft must be flushed."
Germany is already said to be three months behind in training new Tornado pilots, making the bio-diesel snafu particularly frustrating for the fighting force, these reports said.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
We are governed by incredible idiots. I would love for President Trump and Secretary Mattis to end this stupid practice. Why in the world bow down to the Environmental Gods when it limits your war fighting capability?
Makes you ponder how many third worlders they have on the fuel crew.
Q: When is a fuel not actually a fuel?
A: When using it makes your engines malfunction.
Am I missing something obvious?
If the limits were just “minimally exceeded”, I’d think that partially draining the tanks and refilling them with the proper mix would correct the problem. Flushing them seems like a bit of overkill.
Germany has a large number of econuts, including a political entity known as the “Green Party”, so they may not necessarily be 3rd worlders.
When it’s water.
What I got out of it was that bio-diesel costs more, and delivers less MPG than real diesel.
That screws people all sorts of ways. Outright cash, more stops to fill up, and that's not to mention the numerous costs of hauling around the extra, unnecessary weight of the more expensive, less-than-efficient fuel.
What sort of plane engine uses diesel fuel??
About ten years ago a number of Midwest school districts found their buses wouldn’t fire. The cold temps gelled the bio-diesel mix they were using. They were down for quite a spell. Straight up #2 diesel will gel, too, but it appears the bio stuff lards up at a higher temp.
In my hometown a fuel distributor told me when he began supplying bio-diesel it tended to raise hell with seals and gaskets in his pumping equipment until he got those items changed out.
Jet fuel is similar to diesel fuel and kerosene.
The initial attraction to so-called biodiesel was the fact that it was cheap for individuals to recycle used fryer grease that was often free for the taking, then the “green” aspect of recycling and renewable plant-based oil kicked in, obscuring the original basis. I suspect a lot of those originally interested weren’t all that enthused about the political aspect, they just wanted a cheap source of fuel for their engines.
The Soviet Frogfoot (think ~A-10) can reportedly use diesel, if needed.
On the gasoline side of the equation, ethanol can damage and/or shorten the life of motorcycle (and other small) engines. And, it causes reduced fuel efficiency even in vehicles designed to use it.
Yes, I remember the "fryer oil" smell that was heralded by those using at the time.
Mixing a batch required lye, a trolling motor or equivalent, and yields fuel and glycerin.
I wonder if the DOD is still overpaying for diesel made from pond scum, per BHO's orders fueled by campaign donations.
A USN ship is using it.
Obama-Bush USAF bought green mandated bio fuels for the jets. Mandated. At some 48.00 per gallon.
Many early engine designs were intended to work with a variety of fuels, just the reality of the time when consistent fuel supply was an issue. The original Ford Model T engine was another, it ran well on grain alcohol, a very handy thing in certain locales, lol, but they likely didn’t want to burn their source of income unless they had to.
Yes.
I had a 2-stroke string trimmer that would not stay running. It had a steady diet of ethanol blend gasoline since new. I went to the dealer for a carb kit. The dealer said I can sell you the carb kit and you’ll still be mad at me, or I can sell you a new carb which surprisingly was not all that much.
The deal with the ethanol is it’s hygroscopic...it attracts water. That makes a solvent that tends to etch the microscopic air and fuel passages in those tiny carbs wrecking the mixture, and no manner of a rebuild kit will fix that.
Ethanol has a lower BTU value per given volume than straight gasoline, so it’s diluting the gasoline’s specific heat value downward in an E-10 mix.
I think Dr. Diesel started out by running his contraption on peanut oil.
What sort of plane engine uses diesel fuel??
Jet A fuel is basically a cleaner version of diesel.
You had to be really careful in planning any trips with the Model T.
Now that you mention it, the last show (documentary) I've seen with a Model T was an old moonshiner driving around in one, scouting for the place to make his last batch of moonshine before retiring/dying/going back to prison.
Can't remember if he used any of his "likker" to fuel it in his life.
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