Yes Liz gave me a PPL and my first 400hrs in exchange for passing some tests, putting in some unpaid hours and trying quite hard. No apologies for that.
Sport flying is better at the moment. I have last summer tried microlight flying for the first time. Its a bit like riding a motorbike compared to GA driving a car.
If all you are interested in is fun then it wins hands down.
If its raining or miserable I frankly don't want to fly in a light aircraft for pleasure. If its nice I do - but then I might as well be in a micro or ultralight for a fraction of the cost on the same day from the same airfield.
Very very few people use light aircraft for touring or business purposes. At least half the tourers are of the biker metality and would happily save half the cost for the chance of getting wet and packing lighter.
There is more skill in flying the modern sports aircraft then in the 152/172/p38/p28/robin etc. etc. etc. There is more fun as well as they have better thrust/weight ratio and can be used to takeoff/land in more interesting places.
There is not much Group A flying that can be had for under £100 an hour. Thats too much.
Cheers
WWW