USER FEES A REAL THREAT TO GA

$30 for a flight service station "consultation," plus an additional $5.31 for each forecast product used. That's GA reality in the United Kingdom.

$1.50 per minute for an FSS briefing in Germany. $1,000 for a private pilot knowledge test in the Netherlands.

In Austria, $31 to fly an ILS approach, and $70 to land after the approach. "In my situation, it's actually cheaper to fly the whole family by airline to the United States, rent an aircraft for about 30 hours, and have a nice two-week vacation (including hotel and rental car costs) than flying the same amount of hours in Europe," wrote an Austrian pilot to AOPA President Boyer.

In New Zealand, the wife of a pilot tells of how her husband complained about the expense of getting a briefing and filing a flight plan. He was killed in a weather-related accident. He'd skipped the briefing and hadn't filed.

Read the whole thing, and make sure your Congressman and Senators here from you this election year.