<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
          <<  Lancair Builders' Mail List  >>
          <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>
Confessions of a refinery operator:

During periodic shutdowns, startups and upsets of the various parts of a
refinery, I help send a lot of contaminants into the gasoline stream that
will never be distilled out. The miracle of dilution, which also is at work
in your local restaurant and sausage factory, forgives my sins.  Gasoline is
a fungible commodity (love that phrase), and while our refinery is shut down,
it buys or borrows gasoline from other refineries, and they do the same.  No
refiner has enough storage capacity to provide exclusively their own product.
 

All retail gasolines are not the same, however.  Each major brand adds their
own "additive package" that helps keep your fuel system and engine cleaner.
This is done at the shipping terminal level. Independent tests (such as those
done by BMW) confirm that some additive packages work better than others.  

So when Billie Bob has moving gasoline from the cheap tanks to the expensive
tanks, you would hope that someone would be coming around to catch him. The
major brands do. You know how when you mix 100LL and 80/87 in your C-150 the
colors change?  Gasoline color is one of the additives that show this, and
the majors retest gasoline from their branded outlets to look for brand
mixing as well as octane and quality control.

My advice is to buy it from a name brand, company-owned station.  My
retirement stock plan thanks you.

Russell Bliss
L-200 at about 5, maybe 10%
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
LML website:   http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
LML Builders' Bookstore:   http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair

Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>