thank you everyone for the various inputs. I personally have wanted to fly since i was a kid at age two (my first word was "airplane"). It's only taken me 35 years since then to take the plunge. I dont think i will sell my wife and kid to arab slave traders, but i will try a few lessons and see how things go from there. So far, I am only into this by about $370 (books and CD's for instruction).

I figure that if i dont like stuff after spending about $1k-$2k then i can always walk away and go commercial. Of course that is the equivalent of 2-3 kilts....so perhaps I need to think carefully here.

I can also see now that I need to reel in my expectations for distance traveled if i am thinking purely economically. The 400 mile radius from Denver international airport is still pretty cool though....black hills, salt lake, vegas, santa fe, jackson hole, and so on....

So, owning a plane can be cheaper eh? What are the recurring costs besides gasoline these days?