Unfortunately, flying can have no lasting appeal for the casual pilot
masses, until it DOES have some reasonably economic utility, and right now
it simply does not

I think it is essentially true that flying has limited economic
utility. Pilots love to argue this point, but I think most of us know
this to be true. I can't tell you the countless hours I have spent
trying to plan flights that "show" how convenient and useful an
airplane is. It's work!

However, you can go two ways with this:
1. fix the economics, show how the family plane can be like the family
car
2. pitch flying as an avocation, something done for entertainment.

In the latter scenario, flying doesn't need to make economic sense,
just not be overly burdensome. However, I'm not sure how many people
you can recruit with 2.

I like the former scenario, but the economics, as near as I can tell,
are getting worse, not better.

-- dave j