I may be wrong but my understanding is that it's not uncommon to find out someone in the USA is a private pilot, no matter what their job is (e.g., if your grocer or mechanic mentioned they have a license you'd not be shocked).

Apparently it's much rarer in the EU, but that might not only be a cost issue.

Planes, boats, racing, horses.

The rule of thumb is that expensive hobbies cost in a year what the median yearly income in your area is.

A European tech salary would be about 2x of the median while a US tech salary can be 5-6x.