Andy_P - well done on the solo - enjoy those crosswinds on 07! Off topic but to answer thing - relative cost really depends where you are earning and the exchange rates which have been all over the place. That said the Americans seem to have low costs covered whenever. I got my PPL in Aus then spent 2000-2009 in the UK without doing a lot of flying but when I did it was a hell of a lot cheaper in Aus with the pound worth nearly 3 to 1 at some stages. Since then the pound has been as low as $1.5 in the last year but is now creeping back up towards 2. Now I'm back here and earning $ it doesn't matter. I fly a lot more here than I did in the Uk - the weather may have a bit to do with that.
I fly mostly at Redcliffe. The rates: Redcliffe Aero Club - Hire Rates[
Redcliffe Aero Club - Hire Rates ] So as a private hire I can do an hour in the cct at $253 on the tacho and it sets me back around $160, pretty good for a brand new Cessna. or if I want to go somewhere in a hurry I hire a Cirrus SR20 out of Archerfield at $305 on the VDO - don't know anywhere in the Uk I could do that for 160 GBP/hr all in.