Having just returned from our Fair Weather Flying base in Phoenix, AZ, i can certainly say the Americans have got GA right. I did 150+ landings (not all of them good but certainly walked away from all of them
) and didn't pay a single penny. It was even free to land at numerous Military Airfields aswell, such as Yuma Marine Corps sharing the runway with f18's.
Contrast that to when I learnt to fly at Coventry, where we would hop over to Wellesbourne for circuit lessons as they offered the better landing rates!
AB