I think one of the problems here is that the cost of living in the UK is much higher than in the US.
The UK national average wage is £20,000. If you take a scenario of say, a young copper (salary £25,000) married to a nurse (salary £14,000) who wish to buy a property in the South of England (cost - average - £180,000 and deposit £20,000), then it doesn't take much to work out that they cannot afford to buy a house. Mortgage required £160,000 - lender's requirements being 3 times joint salary (i.e. 25k plus 14k times 3 = 117,000). This is usually the maximum that anyone can afford and still be able to eat.
So you see, £40/hour equating to 2 hours a day and a gross annual wage of £20,000 is not a wealthy salary.
Bronx - there is NO way that an FI can work 40 hours a week!! The £40/hour is for flying only. Everything else is unpaid. It is not stupid money. But yes, heli flying in the UK is for rich people (or very committed people) but there are so many economic reasons why the States and Antipodes are much cheaper - all to do with supply and demand.
Cheers
Whirlygig