Aveling wrote:
park the plane on the grass outside my hotel room. Where else in Europe could you do that?
Quite a few places, though most of them grass fields 
Re Texel, and the situation you islanders are in, it is a shame. Not that we fare so much better out of my place…
Still, Brexit, then the virus hype, then what next, all lead to borders closing, EU countries against other EU countries, like we were at war.
What a mess…
Yes; it’s very sad what is happening in Europe. I’ve been in England since 1969 and seen a lot but never thought I would see what is happening today. Like this Caen PPR crap.
It not only screws UK pilots (although primarily). It also makes visits to the British Isles for us “continentals” more and more difficult. For example, the number of people from Germany visiting the UK must have really dwindled over say 2019. And that is not only due to ULM pilots having been locked out. I note this from the amount of interaction I get in connection with my website.
And that is not only due to ULM pilots having been locked out
This is off onto another topic (which I can split off, since it may be valuable stand-alone) but can you please elaborate on the UL → UK issue? I’ve not heard of that.
The “UK pilot screwing” is primarily in France and not really brexit related because the “French police work minimisation scheme” 
started around 2011; I remember doing a VFR in Europe presentation back then. France is by far the biggest remover of C+I facilities in mainland Europe.
the number of people from Germany visiting the UK must have really dwindled over say 2019
What came after 2019 was covid, and (as I often say) that has removed a vast % of “touring” pilots from circulation. Worth another thread but lots of people I speak to, aviation and outside-aviation, say how people just cannot be bothered to do anything nontrivial anymore. And removal of C+I, or ambiguities like above, just plays into this.
chflyer wrote:
“This list comprises all Union airports which, having been so authorized by the competent authorities of the Member State concerned, are approved for air traffic with third countries and where, in particular, customs controls can be carried out on baggage.”
That document had/has Ireland & Croatia which are outside Schengen (Croatia is now in Schengen), it’s the official list of taxation airports the rules for these are harmonized across customs unions, these are the airports where you would import an aircraft from say Switzerland or make paid airliners flights, obviously, if you don’t require taxation of private aircraft/goods, you don’t need to fly to these airports (after all, now all EU airports are OK with nothing to declare, all you need is PNR sorted or fight to get that accepted)
The list of Port-of-Entry airports for extra-Schengen is completely different topic, this is the holy grail for GA flying: it costs lot of money to get police presence, maybe previously people from UK (including me) were using freedom-of-movement concession to Texel where Dutch police kept a blind eye, there are other concessions or exemptions why it was ok to use non-POE: crew, cargo, EU citizens, immigration O/R…
How many immigration airports (POE) are in Switzerland are ok to fly to Tunisia or UK?
Let’s say with passengers who are not EU citizens
In Switzerland, there is only roughly two handfuls.
Plus, in sone cases (like Bern), they charge a huge extra fee for Extra-Schengen flights…
And that is not only due to ULM pilots having been locked out
Can anyone find out more about the above? I am not aware of the UK changing visitation rights for UL aircraft.
In the past, say if you had a German ULM and German ULM license, you could obtain a permit for visiting the UK.
Since Brexit, the German ULM license is no longer considered valid for flying in UK airspace. This has been reported to me by a couple of ULM pilots that tried to obtain the permit.
I think that must be a misunderstanding. Or a UK CAA cockup (somebody in their licensing dept thinking they wanted to fly a G-reg UL).
A German issued UL license must be good for a D-reg UL, worldwide, to every airspace where UL flight is permitted (with or without a permission, but that permission is for the aircraft, not the pilot).
Peter wrote:
What came after 2019 was covid, and (as I often say) that has removed a vast % of “touring” pilots from circulation. Worth another thread but lots of people I speak to, aviation and outside-aviation, say how people just cannot be bothered to do anything nontrivial anymore. And removal of C+I, or ambiguities like above, just plays into this.
What has driven the price increase in second-hand planes? I presume the % of “touring” pilots is small compared to other categories, but haven’t the prices for touring planes which aren’t particularly suitable for training gone up too? Not clear to me where the demand is coming from.
