User Fees are coming closer to being very real

In article VMgOf.801024$x96.328497@attbi_s72,
says...


I'm afraid that GA in America is going to go the same way as GA did in
Europe and Asia -- and no one cares. Instead of allowing for grass roots
aviation, it will belong to only the wealthiest, and the rest be damned.


GA in the US cannot "go the way" it did in Europe in Asia, because one has to
have been somewhere to go somewhere. GA has never been very serious in Europe,
at least not compared with the US, and has never existed in Asia.

I think that pilots and the AOPA are right to fight against user fees, because
nothing should be allowed to happen without a fight, however in truth if
limited user fees do become a reality it will not signal the end of GA in the
US. In all likliehood, the costs will be modest, compared with the increases
that fuel costs and insurance costs have in store for us. Don't give in without
a fight - but don't overdramatize either.

I think the "big fight" that the AOPA needs to be involved in is airport
closures. That's the big threat. One could argue that user fees are "fair"
because there's no reason for the average joe to paying into a general fund
that subsidizes leisure for the happy few (asbestos suit ON yes, I know all
the arguments for and against this - I only said "one could argue"). But
airport closures, though disguised as public interest, are more often than not
promoted by developers with greedy eyes on the real estate, and as such are an
even greater concentration of wealth away from public use toward personal
profit.

A few years ago I was reading that the proposed rulemaking mandating "mode s"
transponders and 8.33 VHF spoacing would be the end of GA, because such
equipment would be too expensive and too heavy to fly in GA aircraft. Well look
at the market today - not only have these initiatives not destroyed GA, they
have been beneficial to it.

Fight the battle, yes - but try to keep perspective on which are the most
important battles.

GF