The sports pilots appear to last a lot longer. Pulling g, air-racing, rallying, vintage, gyro-coptering, gliding, racing are all pastimes which involve flying but are not the main reasons for doing so. So these people stay longer because they have more to occupy their minds, are part of a community and have a sense of achievement when they progress through there chosen areas of interest.
I also think the much higher % of ownership in that group is a major factor.
Also, I know some of them and to a man they are the sort who like to tinker with hardware. They are the sort of people who keep old cars which they fix themselves. It is a very different population to spamcan renters, most of whom know nothing about the aircraft and don't really want to (which is why they are renters, generally).
Ownership is a key motivating factor. In the certified scene, very few people who own a plane give up. They tend to give up only when they lose their medicals. And, to look at things in reverse, almost everybody with an IR and almost everybody who does long distance touring is an owner.
I can not believe that anybody really wants to pay in excess of £100 to fly a crappy 152 to another airfield, go to a clubhouse with smelly bogs, buy a cup of tea and fly back.
Absolutely so. The trick is to avoid doing that.
I can't speak for others but there are several (grass) airfields within 20 mins' flying time from where I am based, but I have never flown to any of them. Why not? I can drive there in less time... The trick is to find more interesting stuff to do with one's flying. N France is accessible for most southern UK pilots, and the straight utility value totally beats alternative transport. I also do much longer trips (Greece, etc) and they are really interesting but they need a more capable plane.