Originally Posted by
TheOddOne
There are millions of cars filled with gasoline every day around the World yet you don't hear of a single incident of fire attributed to static discharge. I suspect that with the similarly small quantities of AVGAS we put in our 'planes that we have a similarly small risk.
Fuel inlets in cars have flame breakers, have a metal spring-held vane that allow for grounding before fuel starts flowing.
The biggest danger is people entering into the car, charging, exiting and then touching (while charged) the pistol and igniting the fumes. There are some YT videos that catch that same scenario:
Aircraft tanks are more susceptible to sparks igniting fumes because they don't have such safeguards: the fuel cap, once removed, gives direct access to the tank. As the pistol closes in a spark may jump in the very wrong place, with plenty of fumes well mixed with air.