Dico Reyers wrote:

It seems that annuals are very expensive in the US...

Actually, not so much. People usually defer maintenance until annual inspection time,
and this is what runs the cost up. The inspection on my aircraft was less than $500,
but the total bill was over $900. Part of that was some fabric work that's been put
off for several years (Paul, that's the silver patch on the tail you may have
noticed).

George Patterson
If you want to know God's opinion of money, just look at the people
he gives it to.