421C
You make some excellent points as always. I dont disagree that it is the pilot's responsibility to understand the airspace but with EASA should eventually come conformity - conformity in licensing, comformity in certification, comformity in airspace. I suspect in time if we are to live with Europe we will find we are compelled to do things their way. Time will tell.
But my point about the 2t exemption would be that the "complaints" on this thread about "poor service" simply reveal a lack of understanding of how the system works. Not something any user community wants. Especially one that pays nothing. My sense of the 2t exemption is that it is a precarious thing, which could easily be swept away
We have done the rounds on this many many times and inevitably we will disagree. I have never supported NATS. I dont agree with our airspace being "run" by a private organisation and I dont agree CAT should have the influence they do.
I also dont agree that GA pays nothing for the reasons previously set out and which you have disregarded. I tell you what, all the duty that GA pays on Avgas should be directly subrogated to NATS since they are the only quasi government service provider that is able to provide a service, I suspect all of a sudden NATS might take a different view.
By the way 421C have you flown in the States? Do you think there is anything better about the service they provide to all airspace users in the US than here?