OK,
Scotland and aviation:
Revenue streams:
Fees for aircraft registration etc. Could be more since there must be a reason for Isle of Mna, Jersey, San Marino to get involved?
Fees for navigation: Iceland gets a good income from transatlantic nav fees, since even though it costs more in fuel to route through their area, it saves a fortune on charges. An opportunity for Scotland there too - if my sources in NATS are true.
APD fees: opportunity to reduce those, so "reduction" in income there, but then might create benefit in more tourist traffic. Perhaps "neutral" with independence
Use as a hub: strategic location on edge of Atlantic and "fog-free" Prestwick becoming more and more irrelevant with modern equipment and longer range aircraft: loss of revenue there, but that is not due to independence.
Fuel duty etc: A chance, only because of a change of government, that we might get cheaper Avgas? After all, the story of BAe flight training at Prestwick, and the flight training at Scone, might resonate better with "local" politicians?
Those are thoughts that come to mind right away.
Now, of course, we could look at trying to get them added to the existing "devolved" powers. That has happened in Northern Ireland with APD.
Might be worth reminding ourselves what those are, simply because "independence" will not change that.
Scotland already has a unique legal system, and police force.
Scotland already has a unique education system.
Scotland has unique building and planning regulations: tell me about them!
Transport is also a Scottish function: so ScotRail is tendered for by Holyrood. Roads and bridges etc are decided by Holyrood.
I am sure there are more, but I am no politician.
So with independence, none of that will change.
What do we have on a UK basis:
Diplomacy: do we need many embassies etc nowadays. Canadians (with a very healthy economy) are looking at sharing facilities etc.
Military: who is going to invade? Perhaps we would be better spending money on ships and aircraft that can provide medical aid to others (ie like Orbis etc) So no job losses, no spending cuts, just different priorities?
Taxes: VAT, Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax. Well, we could be like Ireland and attract Google with lower taxes? So might be an advantage as independent.
Border control: well, that is a joke anyway. Check out Surinder Singh and the Lille Loophole. Or the closure of the border post at Stranraer because it is an "internal frontier" - except that there is no border control in Ireland!
Gosh. Taking control of these is really really important, stops me from sleeping at night..... not.
Independence will make me £200 a year worse off, or £200 a year better off? Who cares: it is not even a packet of fags a week!
It is really all a matter of heart, and not head.
It will neither be the end of the world or the start of a brave new one.