Avgas in drums?

Carrying hazardous bulk liquids is my business. Avgas and petroleum generally is controlled by National regulations as well as international regulations, in the UK it's the Home Office Regulation (or whatever they call it now). There are break points in quantity controlled by various regulations and each country has slightly different rules. Avgas or petroleum in drums (standard 205 litre drums) comes under the UN regulations. Even at this capacity you cannot just put the drum in the back of a pickup and crack on. My specific case will give you an idea of how onerous this is.

I have a 1000 litre bowser I tow behind a vehicle. I load the bowser at EGNS and drive it full (1000 litres) back to my home strip some 26 miles away. The first set of regulations is the bowser must be built to ADR (approved carriage of dangerous goods by road). Mine is built to ADR but when it arrived the manufacturer had not actually issued the legal documents which involves an annual inspection by an insurance company. If you go above 1200 litres (or thereabouts) then the towing vehicle has to have Petroleum Regulations known as Pet Regs involving double pole wiring and flame proofing. Every tractor unit towing a large petrol tank trailer is "pet reg" for example. If you want to go with your bowser on a ferry it has to be International Maritime Organisation approved. A drum is UNited Nations approved and complies to both ADR and IMO.

My bowser occupies something of a grey area of transport regulations. Locally here the Fire Authority say you cannot tow a petrol/Avgas bowser or carry a standard drum of fuel, in fact anything above 20litres in a petrol driven car, only a diesel!! And, it has to be 4 wheel drive?? Above 1200 litres the driver has to be a "Hazchem driver" and the towing vehicle pet reg.

When you get the bowser home you now need a Petroleum Storage Licence. This is required if you store more than 20 litres of fuel at an address. Unbelievable, I know. It involves paying a fee, arranging insurance, a detailed risk assessment, hazardous area signage, etc etc.

So, whether you transport and store 20L in a Jerry Can or 205 litres in a UN approved drum or 1000l in an ADR approved Bowser there are big problems.

I strongly suggest you fly your plane to the nearest airport with the fuel you want.

Then I have to get the pickup to airside and run some kind of a pump to transfer it.

I thought you were talking about a private landing strip in Greece, not a fenced airport in the UK. There should be ways to do this without causing too much excitement. Don't ask, don't tell.

And if the axle of your VW breaks with 250l fuel (ca 180kg), then you made a really bad deal buying that car. I find the 30l UN hazardous liquids cans to be excellent. Just the amount one can carry, very robust and cheap (ca. 10 € per can). A siphon hose is fast and efficient, with a low wing aircraft it's dead easy, you don't even need a ladder.

I wouldn't use this if there's a fuel station at the airport but in case it's the only way to get fuel, it's not an issue. For my small boat, I use this mobile fuel station.

It's nothing to do with a fenced UK airport. This is anywhere UK and probably similar throughout Euroland. In the UK your 30l UN approved can would need a licence to keep it in your garage at home. Yes, yes, I know, it's ridiculous but that's how it is. I'm with you, just do it.

Are plastic containers OK for avgas? They cannot be grounded, obviously, so how does one avoid a static issue?

There are plastic containers made out of conducting material (resistance less than 10k Ohms). Usually they are black because they use carbon dust in the plastic. Other materials exist as well. Such containers cost more. Hardly an issue though, I spend a lot of time in Africa and there everything is based on carrying fuel in plastic canisters and filling (i.e. spilling) it from one to another, usually with a cigarette in their mouth.

I would not be able to lift a 30 litre can without doing my back in. Obviously that would make the logistics harder...

22kg for a full 30l container. Either you find somebody to help or you shift your focus to microlights When I resealed my fuel tanks, I had to drain 250l in drums. In order to put it back, I borrowed a fork lift and used a siphon hose.

I put an open container of it (maybe 0.5 litre) on the end of a long piece of wood (about 3m) and walked towards the fire.

Africans might not value individual lives as we do, but they wouldn't do anything like that for sure

I know about conductive plastics (use them in electronics) but is the stuff avgas proof? Most "loaded" plastics are degraded in chemical performance.

Avgas is just gasoline with lead sludge so how could there be a problem? If it's a fuel container for gasoline, it wouldn't matter if you put in avgas or auto super 95. I haven't seen anti static fuel canisters with 30l (my preferred size) though.

That explains which must be the standard procedure for fuel theft which is to park your low wing plane close to a Cessna and use a hose to siphon the fuel out of the Cessna in the middle of the night, and fly out early in the morning

Indeed, at € 2.60/l it's very compelling. Nowadays all construction machines have fuel caps with locks because some years ago diesel theft at construction sites got rather popular. For Cessnas, there is no such STC available. If it was, then people would probably build adapters for the fuel drain valves!

Hello Everyone

I have Avgas as low As 1.57 euro ISO tank container or BBL 25.000 liter minimum quantity Delivered to Attiki and surrounding Areas. It comes from Germany Delivered to your destination. We also have many aircraft for lease or rent or lease to own financing available.We currently have the following aircraft for lease or lease to own on short and long term rent or lease:
 
4x Cessna C 172 N´s and M´s
2x PA 28.161
1x Pa 28 181 Archer III
1x C 206
2x Fuji FA 200 160´s
2x C 150´s
 
We have also our hand on two Cessna C 172 S with Garmin G 1000 Glass Cockpit.
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I will supply Bowzer