Matt Whiting wrote:

Sam Spade wrote:

Matt Whiting wrote:

Andrew Sarangan wrote:

NACO charts are free. It is like free medical care. It is a great
system and works wonderfully. It has inspired many products and
services that don't exist in countries that have user fees. User fees
will wipe all of them except the big ones (like Jepp) and service will
deteriorate.




Nothing is free. NACO charts are simply paid for from general
revenue from taxes rather than a separate fee. Same with healthcare
in countries where it isn't a fee-based system. Just look at their
tax structures...

Matt



Nonetheless, a lot of people in this country think such things are
free. In some sense the charts are "free," because the pilot flies
his airplane (which probably cost more than most folks cars) using
charts paid for mostly by taxpayers who don't pilot aircraft.


I have no idea if that is true or not. I believe that AOPA has made
some credible arguments in the past that GA pays its way pretty well
with the fuel taxes we pay, but I can't find anything at the moment one
way or the other on this front.

Matt

When Phil Boyer makes those statements he is speaking in terms of ATC
and FSS services. I doubt AOPA's bean counters have even considered
NACO chart services.

My cursory view is that no one in aviation is paying the full costs of
the FAA, including ATC and all the other activities of the FAA. The
place is really, really burdened with lots of high salaries, lots of
bloated, inefficent contracts, and not very good productivity.