If you were King for a day...Make GA better.

DFH65

DFH65

En-Route
Joined
Jun 29, 2013
Messages
2,629
Display Name
Display name:
DFH65
Inspired by the is 100LL killing GA.

List some things you would change to make GA cheaper. I will start.

1. Add an owner maintained category. With a simple inspection clause to bring it back into certification.
2. For certified planes change the inspection to 100 hours or 2 years (maybe 3) whichever comes first.
3. List parts that can be substituted for equivalent non-certified parts oil filters for example.
 
I'd leave it the way it is right NOW

Minus

Help make certification easier

Put some stops on what people can be sued over

Make the FAA use the same court process as a criminal matter (burden of proof, etc) for enforcement actions against working pilots, after all does more damage going after some kid who lives with his mom for smoking a joint, or pulling the ticket of a dad who supports a wife and two kids, the current FAA judge jury and executioner isn't acceptable.


I'd also put some limits on the security theatre, TFRs and the like.
 
1. Find a safe and affordable way to make use of auto engines. The single most expensive part of the airplane is buying, maintaining, and overhauling an engine.
2. Relax regulations on certified airplanes not used for commercial purposes. Allow condition inspections instead of annuals. Allow the use of experimental products over stc ones.
3. Develop programs to interest young adults in aviation. Currently all the programs are focused on getting kids involved in aviation but there is nothing to get a young professional who could actually afford lessons interested.
 
Grum.Man said:
1. Find a safe and affordable way to make use of auto engines. The single most expensive part of the airplane is buying, maintaining, and overhauling an engine.
2. Relax regulations on certified airplanes not used for commercial purposes. Allow condition inspections instead of annuals. Allow the use of experimental products over stc ones.
3. Develop programs to interest young adults in aviation. Currently all the programs are focused on getting kids involved in aviation but there is nothing to get a young professional who could actually afford lessons interested.
Click to expand...
This.
 
James331 said:
Make the FAA use the same court process as a criminal matter (burden of proof, etc) for enforcement actions against working pilots, after all does more damage going after some kid who lives with his mom for smoking a joint, or pulling the ticket of a dad who supports a wife and two kids, the current FAA judge jury and executioner isn't acceptable.
Click to expand...
Agree completely. The "guilty until proven innocent" motto the FAA uses needs to go away.
 
Last edited:
Free transportation on demand from the airport to my ultimate destination and back to the airport when I am ready to come home. Also, police escorts each way.
 
Legal reform.

Make it less inviting for estates of dead passengers or pilots to sue the aircraft manufacturers. This will cause the price of new certified aircraft to fall closer to the price of a similar experimental.
 
James331 said:
I'd leave it the way it is right NOW


Make the FAA use the same court process as a criminal matter (burden of proof, etc) for enforcement actions against working pilots, the current FAA judge jury and executioner isn't acceptable.


I'd also put some limits on the security theatre, TFRs and the like.
Click to expand...

This, plus make the medical simple as in everyone needs to meet requirements for a first class medical. Except to fly single seat planes.
 
Do away with the pilot certificate program, completely, then:
1. Everyone starts as a sports pilot with minimum IFR training (but no endorsement for IFR).
2. Everything else becomes an add-on endorsement. Night, long distance cross country, etc.
3. After 100 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can get endorsed for heavier planes up to 5,000 lbs ? (Haven't thought much on weight), and complex aircraft. Each type is a separate endorsement, including Seaplane.
4. After 200 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can get endorsed for IFR, multiengine, jet.
5. After 300 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can work on commercial and next heavy category.
6. Replace exams with the endorsement flights. You want the next step, you fly with the instructor until you can do it.
Make each time step cover no more than 2 year? If you aren't flying 50 hrs a year you can't "step up" to the next level? Opinions, please.

Add whatever labels puff up your ego to each of the items. Or add epaulets.

Here is my reasoning.
The entire FAA pilot certification system is a heap of mouldering dung. The exams are idiotic, and bear little to no relationship to what actually happens in an airplane.
I read a lot of crap about sports pilots "not getting trained" It's BS, pure and simple.
If an instructor is doing his job instead of lining his pockets, the Sport Pilot would be doing all the requirements for the existing PPL, then take the Sport test.

The existing PPL is a death sentence. Look at the statistics. We turn people loose with as little as 60 hours of flight time and a fat head.
They hop in too much plane, or buy too much plane, or they fly 3 hours a year, and kill themselves and innocent bystanders because they know everything they need to know to pass an FAA exam, they have a plastic card in their pocket that says they are a pilot, but they can't fly worth a damn.
That comes with experience.
So you force them to get the hours before they can move on to the next step.
Costs go down, deaths go down, experience goes up, the arcane, feudal lifetime appointment DPE system goes away.
GA is saved!

So it is written, great Pharaoh, so it is done.
 
Shepherd said:
Do away with the pilot certificate program, completely, then:
1. Everyone starts as a sports pilot with minimum IFR training (but no endorsement for IFR).
2. Everything else becomes an add-on endorsement. Night, long distance cross country, etc.
3. After 100 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can get endorsed for heavier planes up to 5,000 lbs ? (Haven't thought much on weight), and complex aircraft. Each type is a separate endorsement, including Seaplane.
4. After 200 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can get endorsed for IFR, multiengine, jet.
5. After 300 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can work on commercial and next heavy category.
6. Replace exams with the endorsement flights. You want the next step, you fly with the instructor until you can do it.
Make each time step cover no more than 2 year? If you aren't flying 50 hrs a year you can't "step up" to the next level? Opinions, please.

Add whatever labels puff up your ego to each of the items. Or add epaulets.

Here is my reasoning.
The entire FAA pilot certification system is a heap of mouldering dung. The exams are idiotic, and bear little to no relationship to what actually happens in an airplane.
I read a lot of crap about sports pilots "not getting trained" It's BS, pure and simple.
If an instructor is doing his job instead of lining his pockets, the Sport Pilot would be doing all the requirements for the existing PPL, then take the Sport test.

The existing PPL is a death sentence. Look at the statistics. We turn people loose with as little as 60 hours of flight time and a fat head.
They hop in too much plane, or buy too much plane, or they fly 3 hours a year, and kill themselves and innocent bystanders because they know everything they need to know to pass an FAA exam, they have a plastic card in their pocket that says they are a pilot, but they can't fly worth a damn.
That comes with experience.
So you force them to get the hours before they can move on to the next step.
Costs go down, deaths go down, experience goes up, the arcane, feudal lifetime appointment DPE system goes away.
GA is saved!

So it is written, great Pharaoh, so it is done.
Click to expand...


That sounds like a good way to drive people away from being pilots... Im a big guy. 6' 300lbs. (yeah, I know, lose weight, fatty. haven't heard that one before). being forced to get a sport pilot license first means I can't fly the rental 172 with my wife and dog on day trips. which is the main reason Im getting my PPL.

a lot of the issues you present are a result of a lack of personal responsibility. unfortunately, that seems to be getting rarer and rarer these days. but there are those of us who understand the need for more training than the law requires. Im not about to hop in a mooney on my own (i have 47 hours- going for check ride soon) without SIGNIFICANT training in that specific airframe. some might not make that same decision.
 
Stingray Don said:
Experimental rules for certified aircraft not being used for commercial purposes. That would reduce the cost dramatically and arguably improve safety.
Click to expand...
The problem with this is that the manufacturers will no longer support those airplanes.
 
Move weight limits up for light sport. Its a good program, but those planes are flimsy and have small useful loads.
 
1. Eliminate the 3rd class medical for private, no basicmed.
2. Raise the part 103 (ultralight) weight limit to 300kg gross weight to match European SSDR.
3. Allow paid basic flight instruction in eperimental (ELSA or E-AB) LSAs so prospective ultralights can actually get training.
4. Raise the LSA weight limit to include, as a minimum, C-150/152 so people can actually find SP instruction.
5. Allow subsequent owners of experimental-amateur built aircraft to obtain the repairman certificate.
6. Change the regs to allow portable, uncertified ADS-B out (the price will plummet).
7. Build airstrips alongside all highway rest areas the next time the construction equipment is there for repaving (that was proposed when the interstates were being built; the cost would have been a trivial addition to the highway cost).
 
Dana said:
1. Eliminate the 3rd class medical for private, no basicmed.
2. Raise the part 103 (ultralight) weight limit to 300kg gross weight to match European SSDR.
3. Allow paid basic flight instruction in eperimental (ELSA or E-AB) LSAs so prospective ultralights can actually get training.
4. Raise the LSA weight limit to include, as a minimum, C-150/152 so people can actually find SP instruction.
5. Allow subsequent owners of experimental-amateur built aircraft to obtain the repairman certificate.
6. Change the regs to allow portable, uncertified ADS-B out (the price will plummet).
7. Build airstrips alongside all highway rest areas the next time the construction equipment is there for repaving (that was proposed when the interstates were being built; the cost would have been a trivial addition to the highway cost).
Click to expand...

Not sure how practical 7 is but the rest I like.
 
Shepherd said:
Do away with the pilot certificate program, completely, then:
1. Everyone starts as a sports pilot with minimum IFR training (but no endorsement for IFR).
2. Everything else becomes an add-on endorsement. Night, long distance cross country, etc.
3. After 100 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can get endorsed for heavier planes up to 5,000 lbs ? (Haven't thought much on weight), and complex aircraft. Each type is a separate endorsement, including Seaplane.
4. After 200 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can get endorsed for IFR, multiengine, jet.
5. After 300 hrs (in a given time period), PIC you can work on commercial and next heavy category.
6. Replace exams with the endorsement flights. You want the next step, you fly with the instructor until you can do it.
Make each time step cover no more than 2 year? If you aren't flying 50 hrs a year you can't "step up" to the next level? Opinions, please.

Add whatever labels puff up your ego to each of the items. Or add epaulets.

Here is my reasoning.
The entire FAA pilot certification system is a heap of mouldering dung. The exams are idiotic, and bear little to no relationship to what actually happens in an airplane.
I read a lot of crap about sports pilots "not getting trained" It's BS, pure and simple.
If an instructor is doing his job instead of lining his pockets, the Sport Pilot would be doing all the requirements for the existing PPL, then take the Sport test.

The existing PPL is a death sentence. Look at the statistics. We turn people loose with as little as 60 hours of flight time and a fat head.
They hop in too much plane, or buy too much plane, or they fly 3 hours a year, and kill themselves and innocent bystanders because they know everything they need to know to pass an FAA exam, they have a plastic card in their pocket that says they are a pilot, but they can't fly worth a damn.
That comes with experience.
So you force them to get the hours before they can move on to the next step.
Costs go down, deaths go down, experience goes up, the arcane, feudal lifetime appointment DPE system goes away.
GA is saved!

So it is written, great Pharaoh, so it is done.
Click to expand...

I don't believe the solution to GA's problems involves MORE regulation. You can't protect stupid people (or pilots) from themselves without hurting everyone else in the process. While the percentages may well say that low-time pilots have more accidents/fatalities, the actual numbers are still pretty low in terms of overall impact compared to other forms of transportation. It would be equivalent to forcing all motorcycle riders to start out on a Honda 70, limited to 15 miles around their house for the first 5K miles, and force them to ride an additional 5K miles for each 100CC increase in engine size. It would effectively kill the motorcycle industry, which is likely what you solution would do to much of GA when you add too many onerous restrictions on everyone.
 
James331 said:
I'd leave it the way it is right NOW

Minus

Help make certification easier

Put some stops on what people can be sued over

Make the FAA use the same court process as a criminal matter (burden of proof, etc) for enforcement actions against working pilots, after all does more damage going after some kid who lives with his mom for smoking a joint, or pulling the ticket of a dad who supports a wife and two kids, the current FAA judge jury and executioner isn't acceptable.


I'd also put some limits on the security theatre, TFRs and the like.
Click to expand...

Grum.Man said:
1. Find a safe and affordable way to make use of auto engines. The single most expensive part of the airplane is buying, maintaining, and overhauling an engine.
2. Relax regulations on certified airplanes not used for commercial purposes. Allow condition inspections instead of annuals. Allow the use of experimental products over stc ones.
3. Develop programs to interest young adults in aviation. Currently all the programs are focused on getting kids involved in aviation but there is nothing to get a young professional who could actually afford lessons interested.
Click to expand...

Some combination of these two posts. Legal reform for lawsuits against manufacturers, as well as rules to allow certified aircraft in non-commercial use to be outfitted with non-certified parts, condition inspections, owner-maintained, etc. Pull the reigns on the FAA enforcement actions and TFR/security theatre.

Dunno that much can be done on the "automotive GA engine" thing, but at least making certification standards easier and less expensive would likely help. I have a feeling that the compression-ignition engines are the way to go, simply to make use of Jet A availability at most airports. Being able to swap engines out from an IO-320 to whatever would make things much nicer, especially for those with engines that are hard to find parts/cores for.
 
A protected zone of 1/2mi around every non-towered airport, where no new construction of any kind is permitted. Also, all existing structures (non-aviation buildings, towers, roads) must be removed by 2020, and the surface graded smooth, reseeded with native grasses.
Each state must commit to full funding, in perpetuity, of every existing airport to the extent necessary to maintain them in full functioning condition.
All airports and their 1/2mi protected area receive federal and state recognized
status, forever, so as to preserve them from malfeasance or loss of funding.

Oh, and reopen Meigs.
 
Make the leaders of non-English speaking countries which send their students to the US to train, pay US instructors to go there to train and that, very well.

Do away with "experimental only" parts, keep the price and just call them parts.
 
How about we just make a way to change certified airplanes into experimental/amateur maintained. Take all liability off of the manufacturer and allow non certified parts and mechanics. Obviously not for commercial use.
 
How about similar prices for 100LL,

hobsons_blog_old_gas_prices.jpeg
 
#1. Make it easier and less expensive for airplane companies to innovate.

#2. Give Flight instructors better incentives to stay with a flight school.

#3. I agree with the drivers license for 3rd class, give people that want to fly a real chance to fly again.

VOTE FOR ME, I WILL MAKE GA GREAT AGAIN!!! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top