I must say i heartily disagree with those of you who seem to be saying "helicopters good, fixed wing boring". I took my little 2-seater on a cross-country on Monday this week and it was a sheer delight. Terrific viz, smooth air and a nice welcome at the destination. It matched my, and I guess a lot of other f/w PPLs, expectations to the letter.
My own point of view, admittedly from a limited base, is that the excitement in flying Robbos is wondering whether it will have shaken itself to bits by the end of the flight. No wonder they need a rebuild at 2,200 hours. I flew in a Hughes 500 this week and that's a lot better but there are still a lot of lifed bits on what is a very expensive chopper.
I think the real reason for the drop-outs is all the legislation behind private flying...licensing, various Classes of airspace, cost of Cof As, PPR (you can't just go) daft ideas on engine life...and on and on.