Freedom to Fly

flyingcheesehead said:
Definitely - We have it better than anyone anywhere else in the world.
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We have a lot of freedom, and we have to maintain vigilance against it's erosion.

My exchange student this year is from Thailand. GA is almost nonexistent there. While there are flying clubs and planes to rent, the airspace is so restricted, you'd spend most of your time worrying about a bust.
 
I got to agree with this one. As much as I dislike bureaucrats and bureaucracies, for some reason, that right now eludes me, ours really do allow us much more freedom to fly, and at a much lower cost, than those in most countries. My dealings with the FAA over the years, and there have been many, have just about all been a positive experience. Dealing with our U.S. State Department, and state and local government agencies, not so much.

John
 
John Baker said:
I got to agree with this one. As much as I dislike bureaucrats and bureaucracies, for some reason, that right now eludes me, ours really do allow us much more freedom to fly, and at a much lower cost, than those in most countries. My dealings with the FAA over the years, and there have been many, have just about all been a positive experience. Dealing with our U.S. State Department, and state and local government agencies, not so much.

John
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I agree. The FAA, overall, is pretty good. I think that's because they don't deal with the general public much, and they do attract talent because it's an interesting job. I've had truly spectacular experiences with them.

For example, I set up a tour of the Tracon here and so I had to email back and forth with them a little. But...it's not that often that you can a) email someone who works for the government and b) get a response in literally 2 minutes.
 
There are good and bad government bureaucrats. My strategy is to avoid them as much as possible.
 
The article is correct in that we enjoy tremendous freedoms with regard to flight, in comparison to other countries.
I think to walk away with the message that we can relax would be dead wrong.
None of the organizations FAA, military, city governments, TSA etc have in their mandate to actively pursue or protect the freedom of the small aircraft pilot or owner. In fact, it can be argued that each of these groups, if allowed to continue their purpose, will indeed continue to restrict our freedoms further.
America can easily be like Europe or many other places where flying is either restricted through regulation or artificial economic pressures.
We really can't let our guard down.

So I agree we should be very thankful for how it is....but disagree with the tone of the article that suggests to me "all is well".
 
yea just because its better than anywhere else doesnt mean it can't or shouldn't be better yet. don't drag us down to their level
 
Our real concern for GA is not bureaucratic assumptions about safety (the size of 2011 FARS) but more about our assorted bureaucracies viewing GA as a source of revenue. The perpetuation and growth of a bureaucracy seems to take precedence over the perpetuation and growth of GA in most countries, with our bureaucracies looking on with envy, while quivering with anticipation.

John
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
So I agree we should be very thankful for how it is....but disagree with the tone of the article that suggests to me "all is well".
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It's a good reminder that all the good things we have are constantly in danger of being compromised. We stand against a government bureaucracy that doesn't give two ****s about our flying freedom. They only care about creating an environment where more and more regulations are put into place to secure their cushy government jobs and benefits.

Unfortunately they have nearly limitless time and resources. We have the power of our vote but our voices need to be united so our elected officials get a clear message.
 
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