GA paying fair (fare?) share

"Dave S" wrote in message
link.net...

I'd need access to the direct costs, personnel costs, as well as the
manner in which ATC allocates its "productivity" and measures
performance. Without them, I'd be picking a number out of the air. One
ironic way of looking at it would involve me flying at night and maybe
being the only target in the sector.. ATC isnt busy at all, but I'm
receiving 100% of their attention (in theory only)


If you weren't there, if there were no targets in the sector, would the
costs change?



where if there are 25
targets, the controller is much more busy, but each target is only
recieving 4% of the attention/service


Do the costs change now that there are 25 targets in the sector, everything
else being equal?



I think a sliding scale based on weight would be the most appropriate -
it accounts for frieght as well as passengers.


It's pretty much that way now, at least indirectly. Heavier aircraft burn
more fuel and thus pay more fuel tax. Heavier aircraft pay more in landing
fees.



Again, without specific
numbers, and a lot of time to crunch em, this is beyond me. I would
probably be willing to pay an additional $5-10 for local flights and and
additional $20-50 for longer cross countries.. these are rough figures I
just pulled out of the air that seemed reasonable for me to utilize
services. If I didnt use them, I wouldnt expect to pay the fees.

In a direct answer to your question.. I havent reached a firm decision
yet on what I think my share is of the costs of the NAS.


Without specific numbers nobody is in a position to say GA isn't paying it's
fair share now.