Sadly I think its a case of all ready too late.
Some 20 years ago I did my PPL training from what is now effectively a GA no go international regional airport. Each year a significant number off students got night ratings in fact the place was as busy at night as it was during the day. There was also a couple of other airfields that had lights nearby and they were pretty busy also.
These days the number of people who get night ratings has dropped through the floor. Also when I am airborne at night its no where near as busy as it used to be.
I think the damage from not allowing PCL has already been done. I also think to reverse this will take a lot of cash - lets face it installing lights is not cheap.
The other problem is where are we going to train the next generation of night pilots. If the CAA wont allow training using PCL at licensed airfields are they going to allow it at unlicensed ones?
Last edited by Mickey Kaye; 2nd Oct 2012 at 07:10.