Current Fuel Prices: September 30, 2020

Scott Sherer

Here are the current fuel prices in Wisconsin.

griff390

You're lucky Scott, KBUU has historically had good Av fuel prices! For the past few months, KDKB in DeKalb, IL, had the best price in Northern IL at $3.70. 3CK is now at $3.58. Further South in Joliet, IL, KJOT is $3.50, and down East of Champaign, IL, KDNV is at $3.19.
TX, OK, TN, and GA have airports that are in the upper $2 range, but thats a long hamburger run from here! Glad to see fuel prices coming down. Happy flying!

Scott Sherer

Thanks Griff!

roevadas

Kennett Missouri (KTKX) is reporting $2.99, always stop there when going West.

Scott Sherer

$2.99 is amazing... Thanks for the post!

Ray McNaught

The cheapest gas I can find here is $3.54/gal. It's only a fifteen-minute flight from my home airport ($4.39 @ KLHM). The problem is getting to it as a VFR pilot!

Gas should be almost free here in NorCal since it has been almost IFR for the last month and a half. It just seems strange when the AWOS reports: Clouds: clear below 12,000 and 2 mi visibility! Yesterday wasn't too bad, reporting Clear below 12,000', 5 miles visibility so I decided the airplane need to be run. I almost lost sight of the airport turning base! A couple of laps were enough for me!

Scott Sherer

So here's the question dujour: After flying in the smoke do you have to change your air filter? Or do you just stay in the hangar during the fires. BTW, I hope you get those fires out soon. We have a smoky sky in Wisconsin some days due to the smoke.

Ray McNaught

I have not flown when the ash is falling so just the smoke does not seem to be affecting the air filter yet, and I had just cleaned it about 10 hours ago with most of that time before the fires. A couple of weeks ago the wind changed direction for a couple of days and cleared the smoke out of the central valley, so I flew a lot then despite the extra busy airports! Unfortunately, You can hardly go anywhere without dodging TFR's. If I were IFR rated I'd be flying more and logging IMC! And probably cleaning the air filter too!

bearair70

I have found the price of 100LL fuel in the Reno/Carson City area to be least expensive at $4.25 at KCXP (Carson City) and $4.01 at O02 Nervino, CA).

Scott Sherer

Thanks fellows.

griff390

Electronic flight planners may seem off topic, but the connection is that most planners have a one click option to display fuel prices across the nation. I have no connection to them, but I've found Skyvector.com to be the most intuitive and comprehensive of all the flight planners out there. You can also get full briefs and file flight plans right from the app. Having fuel prices displayed along my route of flight has saved me thousands of dollars in fuel costs over the years. Happy flying!

roevadas

Ditto on Skyvector.com. I start my flight planning there.

sparsell

Aviation needs more aviators. But at the normal $5.00 average that's a tall order. Taking a trip can be a huge financial cost compared to the common carriers. I've read articles about why 100LL is more expensive but I just find it hard to believe. The same refinery makes both Automotive and Aviation fuels. Why not add a penny per gal to automotive to reduce the cost of 100LL. Shoot, they could give it away all except the fees local governments tack on.

griff390

I have a couple of close friends who were in the oil industry, and here are the primary reasons Avgas is more expensive than motor fuel.

Avgas contains Tetraethyllead (TEL). There are only a couple companies in the world that still produces TEL. TEL is highly regulated, and that means it's going to be expensive, so whatever price the manufacturers set must be paid.

Leaded fuel must be handled in a proprietary manner to avoid cross contamination with unleaded fuel, and that's expensive. Avgas must be handled with a separate and dedicated infrastructure including storage tanks, piping, rail cars, trucks, etc. If a barge, tanker, etc., is used to transport leaded fuel, it must be cleaned out prior to transporting unleaded fuel. The clean out itself is expensive, and since the washout from inside the tank is contaminated with lead, it requires Class 1 disposal (not cheap).

In the USA, we consume 197 million gallons of Avgas per year (2019). That sounds like a lot until you compare it against the 143 billion gallons of regular unleaded gasoline consumed per year (not including diesel or jet fuel). In the USA alone, we consume the same volume of unleaded motor fuel every 11 to 12 hours as we do Avgas in an entire year.

Avgas represents only 13/100ths of 1 percent of the amount of unleaded gasoline refined. The quantity is so small that the refineries consider it a "boutique fuel", and may only produce it a few times per year. Whatever the price of oil was at that time of refinement determines the price at the pump. That's one reason Avgas does not fluctuate much in price. Finally, we pilots are a captive audience. If you need to fly, it doesn't matter whether Avgas is $5.00 or $2.50 per gallon, you have no choice but to pay the price.

Scott Sherer

Thanks so much, Griff.

robertjao

Honolulu (HNL) prices: 100 (green gas) $6.59/gal!!! Please donate to my fuel bill...

Scott Sherer

Come visit me in Wisconsin. Cheap gas, Brats and Italians on the grill, frozen custard and the green bay packers, lol.