Having been a participant in both systems....hands down I prefer the FAA over the CAA. The CAA/JAA/EASA whatever is the favorite flavor at the time over there...is way too complicated, expensive, inflexible, and damn sure too hung up on its own self imagined standard of excellence. It is not user friendly, is way too bureaucratical, and fails the industry it is supposed to serve.
One example is the matter of "Type Rating".
When every single aircraft (near about) is considered a "Type Rating" it really confuses the issue.
At least the FAA understand the concept of groups of aircraft falling under the same "Type".
The FAA does fall down as it tries to force Rotorcraft into an Airplane framed set of Regulations....such as the Type Ratiing system that was created for Airplanes before helicopters were really sigificant in numbers, sizes, and commplexity.
To compare the two systems for "User Friendliness"....file a VFR Fligh tPlan and gather weather and Notam information and use flight following services in the United States and try to duplicate that with a flight in the UK. Have you folks ever heard of a thing called a "Flight Service Station"?
Our system has its faults....but it beats Hell out of the CAA/JAA/EASA hands down!
The major difference begins with funding sources. The American method sees Aviation as being of value to the community, part of the national infrastructure, and a necessary and vital part of the national transportation system and thus supports the system primarily by tax revenues from the general population. The UK has the diametrically opposite view and funds the system on the back of the individual users (Operators, Pilots, Engineers...and passengers).
Geoffers.....Risk Analysis in the UK is just a tool of the HSE Bueaucrats to enhance their power and allow them to get a strangle hold on business. As Heliport correctly points out....in the UK one cannot do something unless it is specifically allowed. In the USA....unless it is specifically prohibited...one can carry on. That is the difference between a Bureacracy allowed to run wild and a national mindset that limits the power of government.
Over all....I was not terribly impressed with the UK system of Aeronautics for what it claimed to be but was not. It sure seemed to cater to the Upper Class and denied access to the Common Man by its complexity and sheer cost. If not...why do so many Brits come to the USA to do their flying and training then return to Blighty?
Taking up on something 212Man has done.....he has encased his Nigerian ATPL in glass with a small brass tag that says "In Case of Unemployment- Break Glass" (or words to that effect)....I have done the same with my UK ATPL but the caption is "In Case of Terminal Illness- Break Glass and Renew!"
I won't live a day longer but at least I will feel like I lived an eternity while doing the renewal!
Last edited by SASless; 14th Sep 2011 at 16:55.