In article gers.com,
David Megginson wrote:
sense than driving or taking the InterCity train? From the regulations
I've seen and heard about, the legislators in EU countries seem to view
private aviation as strictly recreational, like driving speedboats in the
Mediterranean or snowboarding in the Alps, and thus have little to hold them
back from over-regulating it.

I think it varies widely by country - and the trouble with
harmonization, they all want to harmonize with the strictest (i.e.
worst) rules. To compare British airspace with German airspace, the
differences that directly affect me:

1. I have an FAA ticket. I can fly in Britain without needing to do any
paperwork at all; in Germany you have to convert to a JAA license.
2. In Britain, flying IFR in class G airspace with no flight plan at all
is routine. In Germany, you need IFR slots for everything. (Although US
pilots might think flying IFR in class G is suicidal, it must be
remembered over much of Britain, class G extends from SFC-FL245 and you
can get Radar Advisory Service - think flight following where they will
vector you around other traffic - over most of the country)
3. In Britain, all you need is the landowner's permission to land
somewhere. In Germany (as the other poster pointed out) there has to be
an official observer at even the tiniest airfield.

There are probably many more differences. I sincerely hope that our much
more liberal rules aren't harmonized with anywhere else in the EU. The
most annoying thing after moving from the US is the higher fuel prices
and most GA fields have landing fees. I don't fly anything nearly big
enough to attract en-route IFR fees though.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"