This is a very interesting discussion, but I'm still sure it's basically down to money.
(There can't be enough rich people to support a significant move upmarket of the entire training industry, and all the people who can just about scrape together enough to learn in an ancient spamcan would be lost. So for the industry to offer the punter a choice of a brand new spamcan or an ancient but cheaper spamcan, as it does at the moment, seems about right to me.)
In my case I did get the first renewal after the PPL, but then things like marriage and children came along, and my wife wasn't desperately keen on me flying again until we could actually afford it. So I've taken it up again, but some years later.
I fly with a club that
will let you take the aircraft away for a whole day if you like, or overnight,
provided that you put enough hours on the thing to make it commercially viable. Money again. (But I've got some rich mates who are interested in doing a cost-sharing trip, with me doing all the flying, so things could be looking up
)
other that come to mind include float flying
Yes
Pity about the limited opportunities round here. I still want one of these:
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