I agree IO about the tax.
The whole N reg thing is mainly being driven by getting the greater than 5750kg aircraft off the N reg and under EASA I believe. It won't as succesful as they believe though as I presume alot of the aircraft will shift there base to outside the EU. I wish I owed a hangar in IOM,JER and Guernsey. These aircraft will in all likely hood have to be under an AOC if the changed to a G reg.
In someways pilots like yourself who have championed the N reg advantages have rubbed salt into the wounds of the Authorities about having the loophole.
And again thore you have tried to combine the pilot priv's with oversight.
There is no where else in the world you would get away with the loophole that excists for N reg in some european countrys. It doesn't for example excist in Denmark. If you are a danish citizen/resident your not allowed to fly N reg or have one perm based in the country.
Anyway I will bow out of this emotive discussion. I don't think anyone is going to change each others views. I will fully agree some of my views come from a protectionist attitude to the qualifications I have. Also the industry I work in and also the GA training side of things which I dearly love being involved in.
The PPL/IR requirements is the battle to be fought and I will support that battle. I will also support the battle to get PPL FI's with a realistic knowledge base. I would also battle as well to change the "system" we have for training FI's which currently is utterly bollocks. I would much prefer the instructor progression to revert back to the old CAA method or head towards the gliding communities Instructor structure.
The kind words of Dublinpilot are completely true. I am a supporter of GA and also GA rights even though I fly commercial. But to deal with the issues we have by copping out using a loophole in two countries/EU legislations is not acceptable. Your niche use of the N reg is only one part of the big picture.
And before you ask I don't know what the big picture is either.
It will be Engineering
Flight ops
Airspace policy
AOC's
Pilot Quals
And a load of other factors.
And I also disgree with the fact that "state" aircraft can ignore safety mandatory items just because the goverment is Skint but wants to play with its toys anyway.