Bob Upanddown wrote:..
Is the future of UK GA in the next 10 years just as the CAA want? ...
er, it's not a question of what 'CAA want'. It is what Parliament (1971 Act) and successive Ministers (there's been an awful lot of them, each with mostly brief tenure) have told CAA to do and to prioritise by regulation and oversight; further modulated by JAR then EASA membership (and, of course, Treasury telling CAA and other 'trading Agencies' to cover their costs and make a profit on those regulated, an arrangement rare or unique in the world AFAIK). Ministers' greatest concerns, reflecting those of their Constituents, will presumably be:
a. that aircraft are safe (not crashing into each other nor onto people on the ground)
b. that CAT passengers are safe in the air
c. that CAT passengers are not being ripped offnor left stranded by airlines
A very long way down any list of priorities, if properly (within remit from Parliament or Ministers) considered at all, will be current or future health of GA (industries, infrastructure, future professionals in air or ground roles). Since '80s central strategic planning for any national industries, including even heavier end of aerospace (CAT, military, and associated technologies) has been deliberately foregone, with faith in 'the free market' to deliver, and defining what that market delivers as, by that definition, obviously 'best'.
This philosophy was unrepentantly defended to me by a local Council candidate (then Borough, became County, now retired) who said that Staverton (municipally owned) should be sold to highest bidder, as 'local authorities shouldn't run businesses'. If highest bidder was a housebuilder, this
proved that housing was 'best use' for the land.
(mere guide at) Jet Age Museum, Gloucestershire Airport
http://www.jetagemuseum.org/TripAdvisor Excellence Award 2015
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction ... gland.html