Hairyplane - veyr inspiring post indeed. You basically have started what I was going to say:
For me, the salvation came in the form of a flying group.
I am 22 hours into the PPL and have thought about the main points in this thread for quite some time. I always hear stories of people giving it up and wonder why the hell they do. I am so crazy about flying, just like you people are, and I could never for one day imagine not being able to fly for whatever reason. The cost of hire is silly when you compare it to the hourly cost of a group owned/shared aircraft - this is something which I want to do when I have my license and some experience under my belt. The thing is though, which I have to think about a lot, is what aircraft do I go for? I have heard there are many wonders of flying tailwheel aircraft, so do I go for one of them (after training of course) or do I stay with a Tomahawk or Warrior? If I could fly a Tommy for £30 an hour instead of £100 then I would for maybe 30 hours or so, then sell up and move forward. Putting it simply, I just dont know. I can only decide that later when I have my PPL, and I truly hope that I can be one of the 5% who are still flying after 6 years, and more.
Regards
Maz