Inverted Vantage
Formerly Unknown Target
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2008
- Messages
- 1,116
So I've been reading around and I have to say, for all their talk of "building interest in aviation" and the "personal air vehicle" and whatnot, the FAA is probably doing more damage to GA than 9/11. Has anyone else been keeping up on this? Security clearances, background checks, and badges for ANYONE just to get onto the tarmac? "User fees" for ATC (this one has been talked about quite a bit actually), a sprawling bureaucracy, draconian (not to mention extensive) rules and regulations, an unwillingness to adapt new technology rapidly, and just generally making it impossible for flying to expand beyond the fewer and fewer people willing to put up with all the crap that it takes to get in the air. Take into account the recession and GA's future is looking bleaker and bleaker, IMO. Sometimes it seems like the FAA is trying to destroy their own industry. Could you imagine how popular cars would be to drive if, to get one, you first had to spend $5,000 to train on them, learn a myriad of oft-confusing and overlapping regulations, then get a security clearence just to enter the vehicle - and then after that, you have to pay money to use the roads (well, hehe...I guess they're not so far off on that one), and to go past the McDonalds to get to the KFC you first have to call up the McDonalds to tell them that you're coming near them, then tell them that youre going to the KFC, then tell them when you're leaving...(this last one is more a complaint against the slow adoption of newer proposed GPS navigation systems allowing autonomous pilot navigation, which just went into a test phase in Florida after several years).
Anyway, I know half of what I'm complaining about is necessary (ATC, proper training, etc), but at the same time, hell it's exactly why the number of pilots are decreasing and have been decreasing: it's a pain in the ass to jump through all the hoops to get that piece of plastic.
OH! And that's one more thing - WHY do we not have photos on our licenses? I'd love to be able to show off "Hey, I'm a pilot" when I have to show photo ID or something, but for some reason the FAA doesn't deem that necessary? Hell, my SCUBA license has a photo on it!
/End Rant
Anyway, I know half of what I'm complaining about is necessary (ATC, proper training, etc), but at the same time, hell it's exactly why the number of pilots are decreasing and have been decreasing: it's a pain in the ass to jump through all the hoops to get that piece of plastic.
OH! And that's one more thing - WHY do we not have photos on our licenses? I'd love to be able to show off "Hey, I'm a pilot" when I have to show photo ID or something, but for some reason the FAA doesn't deem that necessary? Hell, my SCUBA license has a photo on it!
/End Rant
