Rent or buy (a share)
Depends what aircraft you look at. My break even point was 12 hours per year. At the time I joined, monthlies were £65 and hourlies £30 wet. There were no additional maintenance costs due to the way in which the group was run. To hire a tired old Cessna was £95 per hour. So exactly the same if doing 1 hour per month. The Cessna had to booked well in advance and you couldn't turn up short notice and take it just because the weather was good. Plus taking the shared aeroplane away was much easier (no minimum hours), and there were ready-made flying buddies. Buying a share in an aeroplane made flying much less expensive, much more available and much more fun.