"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...
In article , G Farris wrote:
French pilots. If you exclude airline pilots, the percentage of IR rated
PPL's
in France is anecdotal.

And that is the thing that IS dunderheaded - is the JAA requirements for
an IR which makes it prohibitive for a typical private pilot. The UK has
a workaround (the IMC rating).

A lot of people who want to fly IFR to the rest of Europe from the
UK are putting their planes on the N register and obtaining an FAA
IR as it's so much easier and cheaper, and easier to keep current.

Fortunately, I read there are some voices of sanity in the European
authorities - EASA have said they want to reduce the regulatory burden
and want to see GA as 'vibrant as it is in the US'. It remains to be
seen whether that's just talk though. On the opposite end we have the
airlines convincing our CAA that they are subsidising GA - they do this
by only taking into accout cheques that GA people write to the CAA, and
totally ignore fuel taxes.

This is because the CAA has to be self sufficient and not subsidised
by the taxpayer. I'm guessing this isn't the case with the FAA. Avgas
taxes go straight into the general fund. This is what gets me when they
talk about charging for services or airspace/navaid use. If that ever
happens we'll all be paying twice. If we don't then the airlines will be
subsidising us. I think avgas taxes should be made available to NATS
(the now private ATC company) and to the CAA to stop the airlines
complaining. The UK though doesn't have the US mindset that the
taxes generated by something should be spent on that something.

They are talking about extending the UK IMC rating to cover Europe.
JAR originally talked about this with their IWR (Inclement Weather
Rating) but nothing came of it.

Paul