YellowSub: "To those who say 'stop being lazy, go and tow gliders or do aerial photography' please do a quick calculation of how many of these jobs are going nation/worldwide and how many people would be more than willing to do this for free."
Flying for free is not half as bad as P2F ! How many glider pilots/owners do you know? How many parachutists have you bought a beer for (post jump!).
As an FI you may start on £10 per trial lesson and end up working for OAA for £50k as an IRI.
Why pay for BigNumber to go on holiday to his villa in S France?
The key is not to spend big money in a recession with no prospect of paying it off in the next 5 years. Take the small steps - less outlay, less risk. Even if you only manage to fly 12 hrs a year but find other paid work to keep the vision going it's a positive step.