This year Manuel “Manny” Romero-Vargas is celebrating his 50th year in aviation. To legions of business aircraft operators who have flown to Mexico and ranged through the country, the septuagenarian handler is known simply (and affectionately) as Manny, the personification of business aviation in Mexico.

Efforts to remove lead from aviation gasoline date from the mid-1970s when the first unleaded and low-lead fuels were introduced by refiners in response to the Clean Air Act. The initiative to qualify some light aircraft piston engines for operation on automotive fuel (“mogas”) stemmed from that era, as well.

A new fuel specification or amendment to an existing one begins with a comprehensive research report submitted as an argument for consideration to members of ASTM International (formerly, the American Society for Testing and Materials), who subsequently vote for or against its inclusion in the appropriate spec. The ASTM technical body reviews the research report to determine if it is technically sound and provides reasonable substantiation for the approval of the fuel under consideration.