"Its true flight speed at 90,000 will be 350 knots" -- in a glider! Sounded crazy until I put the numbers in a TAS calculator; could be around 30kts IAS... Amazing.

A simple 4-hour trip in a rented C172 being $700, you don't have to do very many before you reach $10k/year for the hobby. It's expensive, and out of reach for the average Canadian worker with a mortgage and kids ($76k median family income). The original poster knows, this, it doesn't answer why. Ap...