Wolfgang Schwanke writes:

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

No, I'm just in Europe, where 250 euro per hour is not uncommon

A C15x or DA20 can be chartered for EUR 100 - 120 EUR wet, often below
EUR 100 through a flying club.

And where I live, you can get the Private *and* Instrument ratings
for around $10K.

Where I live, the private pilot costs between $21,000 and $28,000 to
obtain,

A PPL can be had for total costs of:

EUR 5,500 750 kg
EUR 7,500 2 tons

EUR 4,500 3-axis microlight (comparable to US light sports aircraft) is
also an option.

These are "realistic" prices meaning they're not theoretical minimums
that hardly anyone achieves in practice, but real life.

and an instrument rating is another $28,000 or so.

I find prices around EUR 13,000.

So 735 hours would cost me only $132,500. Somehow I don't find that very
consoling.

And I live in France, where the prices are different. Are your flying club
memberships free?

Only some pilots, because if you factor in additional costs like flight
to the US, accomodation, and the bureaucracy of having the US licence
transferred to a European one, the difference melts away. It is really
only attractive for people who travel to the US frequently anyway.

I saw the figures and they looked favorable, although it's expensive no matter
how you obtain it. Plus, in France, you need a higher medical for IR, for
some reason.