There is no doubt that if you could start GA off again, and did not have to fight a multitude of vested interests (from the industry and the CAA, mainly) the whole regulatory environment would be very different.
There would not be any medicals at all, because the State has no business in dictating individual attitudes to risk. You are allowed to rock climb, parachute, etc, aren't you? It comes down to 3rd party damage which is absolutely miniscule.
The training environment would be very different. One would modernise a lot of stuff.
As regards
- 3 take-offs and landings in 90 days, one of those in the last 28
- 24 hours in the last year
- PFL in last 28 days
- Stall in last 90 days
- Power loss, engine fire, flapless approach - all practiced in last 90 days
- Flown the type, or reviewed the POH, in the last 60 days.
- Some form of 30min+ navigational exercise (A-B, or diversion) in the last 6 months
I am not sure I agree with the whole package. That is a big overhead in terms of paying an instructor to be in the RHS so he can verify you actually did those things, otherwise most people will just make a logbook entry. And the navex is meaningless for anybody who flies for real, 99% of whom use a GPS for 100% of their nav, which then becomes utterly trivial.
I would ditch the "complex" definition. There is nothing complex about a CS prop and a retractable gear. OTOH I would have mandatory training on GPS-level (and above) avionics, much of which is too sophisticated for many (that fly with it) to understand. Most instructors have only a limited understanding of it, too.
As regards most people giving up, yes I am certain one could do a lot about that, and reducing it from say 90% to say 80% would double the size of the GA scene which would be wonderful.
Especially if one ended up retaining pilots who actually really have more than 2 bob to rub together!! This game is packed with hopefuls who keep kidding themselves they can fly but they cannot afford it, at any level which does what they want to do, they never could afford it, and eventually most of them will drop out disillusioned. Such a shame.
A lot of things need an overhaul but it will never happen because there are vested interests at every step.