Did I miss something?
An excellent summary I would say.
And regarding those ILS equipped 24/7 airports which might boost GA: Maybe. But someone will have to pay what it costs to install and operate them. Even if remote-towered and everything else to keep the cost as low as practicable – but as was already written, firefighting capability will be a requirement for commercial GA OPS (which is from where small airfields can generate some decent income) as well as border control / customs. And this will bring the cost to a level which will not be acceptable for many.
MedEwok wrote:
European infrastructure: At least in west and central Europe far superior train/highway and commercial air travel options compared to the US
My comments on that as follows:
European passenger trains generally provide more convenient service, as a result of very high population density. Trains in the US are used for freight, and partially as a result of less conflict with passenger trains, US trains are the most cost efficient freight trains in the world. One result of that is that US motorways are not clogged up with trucks to the same degree as in Europe.
The US road system is generally better for long distance travel, partly as a result of lower population density and partly as a result of a younger country with less pre-modern roads. Also less trucks on major roads as mentioned. European roads are in many locations more fun for riding a motorcycle… because less efficient roads are often more fun. 
I can ride a motorcycle all day in many areas of Europe and cover 150 or 200 km.
Commercial air travel is pretty much the same everywhere, often a pain in the behind anywhere. It’s generally the best solution for mass transit in the US because of low population density.
More generally, flying yourself for business or any other reason is fun, there is no other justification required, and the infrastructure to allow it does not reduce other options. Infrastructure and most other facets of an economy are not in actuality a zero sum game. More of everything is better for everybody, and the most effective way to increase tax revenue is to encourage volume, not set anal retentive limits, limited choices and controls on everybody that only discourage activity and reduce volume.
More of everything is better for everybody, …
No. I already have enough, more than I need, actually. If all 7 billion people would have what I have and do what I do, we would be all dead from suffocation and exhaustion of food and resources. Stepping back a little, leaving some room and stuff for others as well, in short a little less of everything for us Westerners is actually better for everybody.
Silvaire wrote:
US trains are the most cost efficient freight trains in the world.
Regarding passenger trains only if you consider cost efficiency = cost / time spent in train.
The other day I did DC → NYC which took a good 3 hours and cost >100 USD. In Portugal, for instance, it costs less than half that and takes 2h (which is slow compared to other european trains)
(I don’t know if / what tax subsidies there are on both)
The one thing that is better when less is population density, I certainty agree on that. Europe would be a much nicer place in my opinion with about half as many people.
The measure of freight train efficiency is cost per ton mile, for freight the time en route is not particularly important.
My case is certainly not typical for “European business travel” as my income is 100% dependent on travel. If I don’t show up at a client, there will be no money for food on the table.
Thanks to owning a capable SR22TN our family is able to live where we want to live instead of where the infrastructure is and I can work with clients in somehow remote locations.
The other advantage is that I can travel on my own schedule instead of meeting the schedule of trains or airlines. It does create a lot of peace in comparison to all the running in order to wait and then start running again. It’s a question of freedom to be able to not look at the clock all the time.
That freedom is expensive but so is travel in general. I’ve run the numbers many times and public transport is indeed cheaper but once I look at the schedule and all the other factors I would be hard pressed to abandon what I’ve grown accustomed to. A few times I’ve talked about selling the Cirrus but my family objected.
Most of my flights are between 3 and 4 hours. I have no real issue with the weather as at FL180 only the big thunderstorms are an issue and they can be seen can circumnavigated. The ADL satellite weather provides a great way to plan ahead. Actually last Friday on my way from Kassel EDVK to Sabadell LELL it was pretty interesting when crossing from Germany into France in the vicinity of the GTQ VOR. It was a 4+ hours flight that went by like 1 hour because there was so much to do …
We are actually planning to move to a more rural place in Spain with an airport that is A/A and the nearest airline connection is 2:30 hours by car away. I won’t be able to reach a destination in e.g. Germany in one flight anymore but I can still travel on my schedule. Thanks to the different attitude in France I will probably take advantage of night time landings and PCL lighting and not really suffer much. I’ve checked airline schedules and even without taking into account the long drive to the airport it would still take easily 6+ hours to arrive in the best case.
Train and airline travel works best between major metropolitan areas. Those are the areas where most large companies and their employees live. If you seek a different lifestyle and want to be away from big cities, you will learn about the other side of the coin and suddenly owning and flying a SEP becomes a different thing.
There is a reason why today supposedly more than 51% of the world’s population is living in cities now for the first time. But then … that city life is not desireable for everyone.
Oh and about weather … I’ve lost days at clients due to weather. Mostly because Sabadell LELL did not allow me to depart as the ceiling was below 1500 AGL. I’ve communicated with my client while sitting in the aircraft waiting for the weather to improve. In the end nothing was lost as I don’t fly to meetings but go to clients to work with them and they can reschedule and don’t have an issue in doing so. Airlines also face delays and due to that one might arrive too late for meaningful work. It’s not different.
Alexis wrote:
No tourists from the US would be one solution ;-)
The traditional solution over hundreds of years has been emigration, by which method I have already been part of the solution to European overpopulation – I hold EU citizenship in addition to US citizenship and could legally live in either place. I also exported my immediate family from Europe
It’s neat to read of @Stephan_Schwab frequently and routinely using his plane for business and personal transport, minus theatrics and drama.
TL:DR; Europe is cold, calculated and the people are trained to do it the way its been done, and are afraid to stand out. Americans value the ‘self-made man’ and aspire to do something with their life, which typically involves financial success. So there is no stigma in America with owning your own plane and flying it everywhere, for business or anything else. In Europe, flying is for the royal class of elites and therefore should be ended like the Monarchies were.
I completely agree with Mooney Driver and LeSving on their comments, based on my few years here in Europe (Austria).
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in all these threads is the concept of the ‘Self Made Man’.
Americans see a self-made man as the model of success, and so many have a high regard for anyone who has gotten rich by their own devices.
Americans love the rags-to-riches story, and it is a great inspiration for the everyman.
They love hearing about the guy who grew up poor and now hops on his own jet to wherever. They want to BE that guy/gal.
This is something I don’t really see in Europe. People are steeped in tradition and just want to maintain the status quo.
There’s a grey fog of ‘you get handed what you get in life’ and no real sense of destiny, or freedom.
It’s almost like the old sheep-fences, or stone walls here are so old, that they define everyone who lives here, and no-one really thinks, “You know what, if I tore down all those old stone walls, I’d have a bigger field and it would be cheaper to produces crops on.”
So they drive their proverbial tractor around the proverbial wall, and just get stuck in a mental rut of nostalgia.
I’ve even heard people say, “I wish it was still a monarchy”…
People in Europe seem to believe that what they are handed in life is what they get.
Americans don’t subscribe to that. They (by and large) believe that life is what they make of it. They have two hands, two feet and a solid brain, they can make something happen.
I very much see these cultural influences in aviation.
Americans want the government out of their way, not interfering with their lives, just providing enough service to enable them to be free to pursue their endeavors (so long as they’re not harming someone else).
Europeans prefer to have an overlord regulating everyone’s steps and making sure no-one sprouts up too high and somehow gets an advantage over others (I believe someone here called it the highest-poppy syndrome…)
When I tell Americans I have a PPL, they are impressed. They have respect, and, typically, there is a seed of, “Oh man, I wish I could do that” to which I usually respond, “You can! It isn’t that expensive, you just have to treat it like the hobby it is.”
When I explain that an airplane can be had for $25k and would cost around $5k/yr to maintain, they are usually shocked, excited and interested.
When I tell Europeans I have a PPL, they are intimidated. Like I’m the Queen’s grandson, and we’d been talking all this time, but I didn’t have the decency to tell them until just now.
Then, if they know me, they will be slightly embarrassed, because they feel like they could never ever achieve such a thing. To which I usually try to change the subject, or make it seem like the accomplishment is somehow less than it is, as I know they probably can’t afford to get into aviation… :(
If they don’t know me, they typically get a little proud and indignant and treat me like I was bragging or something. So I usually try to change the subject, or make it seem like the accomplishment is somehow less than it is… :)
In both cases in Europe, my accomplishments are very much NOT appreciated, whereas in the US, they are admired.
Frankly, I don’t care either way. I like flying, so I fly. That’s why I fly.
So, I think Europeans don’t really have a place for such a frivolity like flying for flying’s sake. In the US, we call this, “Freedom”. Just doing things for fun, because we can. That’s enough rationale.
In Europe, there seems to be an underlying need to justify everything with some kind of logic. Emotions are not sufficient justification for doing something… so, there’s a restricted lifestyle that exists here which runs counter to the very nature of General Aviation: flying for flying’s sake.
Double that mundane logic down with the business etiquette of not wanting to be a showboat, and you have a recipe for GA stagnation.
Take the American desire for freedom and being loose of the confines of rules, and combine it with a very real model of the self-made man, doing what he wants, because he’s reached success through his endeavors, and you have a volatile recipe for General Aviation!
My two cents.
Lengthy, but this subject is pretty near to me, as I’ve flown in both regions, and personally found GA in Europe to be easily 2x as hard, primarily because of the attitudes of those involved.
If it weren’t for a few true aviation enthusiasts I’ve had help from in Europe, I would have given up trying to fly here long ago.
Not because it wasn’t obtainable, or achievable, but because the fun, the very point, was sucked out of it by those with no feeling for adventure, freedom and fun.
Thanks for your help guys!
It would be great if Europe lightened up a little and had some fun. :)
