In rec.aviation.student Mxsmanic wrote:
Flying has an extremely high price, which imposes a very high threshold of
interest in aviation for pilots, even those with lots of money. It's an
extremely expensive hobby.

I cut my club a check for $400 approxmiately every two months. This year
I've averaged about three flights (and three hours) per month. Even
counting the cost of the 70-mile drive to the airport each time, this is
not a particularly expensive hobby. Certainly there are hobbies that are
much worse. I know guys who spend more than this each month on movies and
music. And I'm at the high end in my club; I've been told that the average
cost to the membership is $100/month per person.

As with any hobby you can pretty much spend what you want to. In flying
you need a certain minimum in order to remain proficient and safe, but
that ultimately isn't remarkably expensive. Unless you live in Paris in
the fashion of a starving student, anyway.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon