Can you plan and fly a VFR flight to southern Europe to the minute?
No, but I don't think one can do it with IFR either?
I was thinking of slot "windows" rather than specific times "to the minute".
I tend to agree VFR traffic will never be given priority over IFR
Ok - but why? VFR + IFR flights are both flights where one needs to go from A to B, are they not?
flying on your own is actually perfectly possible. ATC hand-holding is not required. Get yourself a decent GPS, fly around the CAS, and you don't need anybody else.
I don't deny this - but my understanding was that ATC is there to separate me from traffic which I cannot see. If you ask anyone who is interested in IMC flying - they would probably ask how ATC could help them.
Maybe that's why some countries figured out there is indeed a safety advantage and therefore introduced Class-E.
At the end of the day, I do think funding has to come out of the public purse in which all of us have contributed significant amounts of tax.
Maybe not right now though as we know the state of deficit the government is in.
But maybe sometime in future when the public are better informed as to how GA serves this country's economy and its communities. It is not just for leisure and entertainment.