I agree with all of the stuff above (but give poor old TM a (run and?) break!). The combination of intellectual and physical challenges, the decision making, the feeling of close connection with the machine when manoeuvreing, all that good stuff. Let me try refining the question: Why do we all fly in the various ways that we do? Some of us are tailwheelers and/or aeros junkies. Some of us enjoy planning and executing long range flights in fast machines with lots of gadgets. Some of us like building our own. Some of us (the ones with three hands and two brains perhaps) even go in those things with the wibbly wobbly tops, and so on.
As someone who inclines to the view that the blue bit looks better underneath, I was interested to note how many experienced GA ppruners confessed to spinnaphobia on the recent thread of that name in the Instructors forum. So what gets yer cookies if you don't like yanking the thing about the sky? NB this question contains no implication that one sub set of enthusiasm is better than any other.
PS: am I the only aviation junkie who wants to chunder when he reads Richard Bach? St-Exupery gets my vote, every time.
[ 25 July 2001: Message edited by: FNG ]