You can fly under IFR rules in uncontrolled airspace Class
G.


"Sam Spade" wrote in message
...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| The FAA and ATC exist to serve the military. The
airlines
| are a justification on the budget. GA is forced to use
ATC
| because in the past 50-60 years the FAA expanded the
scope
| of controlled airspace to be everywhere. 25 years ago
there
| were large areas that were uncontrolled below 14.500
feet.
|
|
| Your not the only one to make the argument that the FAA
exists to serve
| the military. The last time that was factually correct
was during World
| War II.
|
| It is all about the airlines.
|
| As to controlled airspace, what adverse impact does
lowering Class E
| airspace below 14,500 (known at one time as the
Continental Control
| Area) have on GA? What imposition does Class E impose
upon the VFR
| pilot, other than to have the transponder turned on?
|
| As to IFR operations, light aircraft would be precluded
from using the
| system without Class E airspace below 14,500.
|
| I started flying IFR in 1956. We didn't even have to have
a radio to go
| into most towered airports then. But, the folks I flew
for in the early
| days didn't think that was very smart so we had radios.
|
| Airways were far more limited then and direct routing off
airways was
| usually impossible because of the lack of controlled
airspace beyond the
| limits of the airways. We have a lot more flexible system
today for IFR
| operations because of large areas of Class E airspace.
|
| Class B and C airspace comprises a very small percentage
of the total
| airspace in the country. Those classes were not
established to enhance
| IFR operations; rather, they were enacted to mitigate
collision risk.
| Most of the world had some type of restrictive terminal
control areas
| before the FAA went there.