Flying has never been cheap and never will be, our great technological capabilities notwithstanding. David Thurston in his classic books Design for Flying and Design for Safety showed clearly why the LSA category could never have met its lofty goals of affordable flying: small market, high development costs (even with LSAs' relaxed regulatory regimen), and the amount of infrastructure necessary for a sustainable business.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/features/reader-mail/avmail-september-27-2010