If you're interested in the concept of personal airplanes replacing commercial flight, I highly recommend "Free Flight" by James Fallows.
There's a lot of things working against the concept. Weather constraints and sport pilot restrictions are logistical issues, but by far the #1 issue is cost. The Transition, Terrefugia, and A5 aren't doing much to solve this by selling for $190-300k, so they definitely won't be changing how the general public travels.
Regardless, I couldn't be happier with my Sport License. For now I can only afford to rent, and not much at that. Were it not for the LSA category though, flying would still just be a wish.
It's very difficult to beat the cost, safety and reliability of commercial airlines. If you have $250k burning a hole in your pocket, something like a Cirrus or Corvalis is probably a more useful option for trips up to about 1000nm.
There's a lot of things working against the concept. Weather constraints and sport pilot restrictions are logistical issues, but by far the #1 issue is cost. The Transition, Terrefugia, and A5 aren't doing much to solve this by selling for $190-300k, so they definitely won't be changing how the general public travels.
Regardless, I couldn't be happier with my Sport License. For now I can only afford to rent, and not much at that. Were it not for the LSA category though, flying would still just be a wish.