A and C, Im glad you think its going to be no problem to fit mode S even to aircraft with no electrical system. I hope you and your friends who want everyone to have mode S will solve the biggest problem then, to pay for the unit and the installation.
It might not be that high a cost compared to the value of the aircraft, but it is a significant cost compared to what people pay to fly each year. If instead of waasting £1000s on this equipment they flew a bit more and got more current, then perhaps the few controlled airspace infringements would be reduced as people would remember how to navigate!
If I only want to fly outside of controlled airspace from small airfields and farm strips, I do not see any justification for fittting Mode S. If I want to fly into Class D and above then maybe.
Im not particularly bothered about people being able to see what I am doing- if Im away from controlled airspace, Im sure the controllers have better things to do than watch me. I would be very much against anyone else having the information though, other than ATC or other aircraft TCAS.
Some people think its great for weather info etc, well if they want that, then they can pay for it, just as they can pay for their GNS 430 and I can buy a map. It may well also be a good idea for IFR aircraft and they can pay for it too. But dont force it onto us VFR day only aircraft.
Ive got no complaints about the UK airspace arrangements either, although perhaps the base of some airways is a little low in places and there are some large control zones that could be smaller- seems a lot are based on the climb rate of an overloaded DC-6 with an engine out, rather than a modern airliner. Having lived and flown a lot in France too, I didnt really see a much better system there- yes the population is more spread out, so big towns with big airports further apart, but there are a lot of military zones that you sometimes cant cross and some of the Class D zones are more helpful than others- just like comparing the friendly East Midlands, to the less helpful Stansted.
Surprising that IO-540 says that the pilot population is falling. Might be true I dont know, but the number of aircraft on the register is increasing and the fact that kit/homebuilts are completed much quicker means less non airworthy aircraft on the register. Maybe its just Group A PPLs that are reducing, whereas Group D PPLs and NPPLs are increasing. It is true that we need to attract more young people into aviaiton, the Microlight organisations seem to have success in this area, perhaps we can learn from them.
Lets hope we can get an exemption from these rules after 2008. Even if it is a European rule, I cant see why we couldnt have a national rule for aircraft that only fly in the UK outside controlled airspace. PFA, BMAA and BGA are all active on this subject, so I hope everyone shows there support by joining at least one of these organisations.