I really never understood the time build thing you Brits do here. The schools that do that sort of thing are all either in Florida or Southern California. Radar and ATC is a fact of life in the LA Basin or Orlando. Try Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana. On the other hand with exchange, is even cheaper for me to rent an airplane in Canada. I haven't rented an airplane in 30 years. Been thinking about doing a Canadian Commercial for helicopter, I fly both. I may do so one day. Having taken aircraft to alaska, and flown a lot in Alaska, I never though much about gee there no radar, what am I going to do now! The reason for less radar coverage in Canada is because there is less people and less air traffic. Where you find the people in Canada you have the Radar and all kinds of Nav Aids like VOR's were there are few people, you get to pump you own fuel out of a barrel and well its NDB for you. I like being able to get gas out of a barrel. You also get to see some of the best real estate on the planet too. I use to have an buddy from OZ, when to the same flight school in texas for fixed wing, I would tease him that there were more VOR's in Connecticut than in the whole of Austraila back in 1974. Its all about how much of an Aviation demand there is in a Country that will then dictate how much services for aviation there will be. Lots of Airplanes , Helicopters , Military and Space aircraft in the US not as much as some but more than most.