Hyperbole? In The Pit? :eek: I’m shocked! Shocked, I say!
Pretty much, though I look at helicopters as more like flying motorcycles. They’re fun and maneuverable, but of limited utility. (But they’re very good when it comes to their unique capabilities. Oh, BTW: You need permission from the owner to land on private property.) Fixed-wing aircraft aren’t quite as good as helicopters for poortal-to-portal travel, but they can get you close and can carry more people and luggage.
You don’t need a full time pilot. You can fly yourself! 
And you don’t need a full time mechanic. You can do oil changes and lubrication yourself. You will have to take the machine to an A&P for the Annual Inspections (and 100-hour inspections if you’re using it in commercial service – rental, sightseeing, etc.), and for the 2,000 hour rebuild. But how long does it take to rack up 2,000 hours? Could be years.
But yeah, you not only need a stack of blank checks; you also need a bank account or income to back them up! When I learned to fly (fixed-wings) my dad rented me his Cessna 172 for $33/hour. That covered fuel, oil, insurance, and a percentage of the maintenance. At the time 172s were renting for about $65/hour. In Bellingham now they’re renting for $95/hour. I’m guessing – and this is only a guess – that it probably costs about $50/hour to operate the aircraft. When I started flying Robinsons, they cost $180/hour. According to information I received from Robinson Helicopters, the operating cost at the time was $90/hour. So I think a ballpark figure is that rental rates are somewhere around twice the operating costs. So if you own your own R-22, it’s not that expinsive to fly it 9when you consider you have the wherewithal to own it in the first place).
For flying between the islands I flew San Juan Air from Bellingham to Orcas for $35 in a Cessna 206. A 172 or 150 might be a viable option for getting around up here. There appears to be seaplane parking at the southern end of Lake Washington, so island hopping in a 172 float plane is possible and much cheaper than by helicopter. (Incidentally, there’s a 172 on floats in Bellingham for sale on eBay right now.)
But back to airplanes and helicopters as flying cars. As you said, helicopters are about as close as you can reasonably get to a ‘flying car’ (or, IMO, flying motorcycle). A fixed-wing aircraft such as a Cessna or a Piper will get you reasonably close to your destination (usually closer than if you were to fly on an airline), do it faster, carry more people and/or gear, and do it more cheaply.
Which is why I’m getting ready to get back into fixed-wings instead of helicopters.
