How many real pilots here? :)

[PE_Tigar]

CPL+IR+MEP, just had my annual IR check ride today.

[kimosabi]

I'm saving up for my PPL and sadly had to vote "none" on this one.

come on kimosabi, it's only a matter of time and once you get your wings you won't be able to do without! Good luck man!

[kimosabi]

Thanks! I've found the club, know what to do and have done the first medical check. The club has two trainers, a Piper Cherokee Archer III and a Cessna 172. About 6months from now I'll have the funds to start and complete my training for a basic PPL. Another 6months, hopefully, I'll fly the practical. May be a bit optimistic though but if weather, instructors and aircraft availability is there, I don't think that about a year from now is unrealistic.

[namroob]

CPL IR, multi-engine, aerobatics and tailwheel ratings, last job was bush pilot on Cessna 206 in Africa. Haven't flown for 12 years and discovered IL2 when I got back - excellent substitute for the real thing. Congrats to Mr Maddox and the team on CoD - looks like it will be brilliant.

[l3uLLDoZeR]

Single engine land for now, working on my instrument rating.

Originally Posted by kimosabi

Thanks! I've found the club, know what to do and have done the first medical check. The club has two trainers, a Piper Cherokee Archer III and a Cessna 172. About 6months from now I'll have the funds to start and complete my training for a basic PPL. Another 6months, hopefully, I'll fly the practical. May be a bit optimistic though but if weather, instructors and aircraft availability is there, I don't think that about a year from now is unrealistic.

forget the Cherokee and learn with the 172, it's a bit of a fat ass bird but it's like a good old car, it will take you anywhere!

Don't u do theory and practical together? I'm sure you can also find some financing solutions for your PPL. Uh and make friends at the local aeroclub: clean planes, offer to help, be there, breathe the atmosphere, and you'll always find someone to hitch a ride from

It's a great passion, and above all a true discipline! Enjoy and keep us updated.

[kimosabi]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger

forget the Cherokee and learn with the 172, it's a bit of a fat ass bird but it's like a good old car, it will take you anywhere!

Don't u do theory and practical together? I'm sure you can also find some financing solutions for your PPL. Uh and make friends at the local aeroclub: clean planes, offer to help, be there, breathe the atmosphere, and you'll always find someone to hitch a ride from

It's a great passion, and above all a true discipline! Enjoy and keep us updated.

Hey thanks man. Is there any specific reasons to why the Cherokee should be avoided? Because it's a low wing config?

Yes, there are financing possibilities, I just like to have some funds ready, just in case. I'm finished paying down a loan two months from now and I was planning to convert that monthly expense into PPL education. Theory and practical does happen pretty much simultaneously but here in Norway, we don't always have the best weather. Sometimes they have to cancel scheduled airtime with students because of that, so normally you have finished your theory some time before you get to practical exam. I was told that 45 hours airtime is mandatory before you can take the practical exam. Will pop in at the aeroclub from time to time, yes. Cheers!

[PE_Tigar]

Originally Posted by kimosabi

Hey thanks man. Is there any specific reasons to why the Cherokee should be avoided? Because it's a low wing config?

Yes, there are financing possibilities, I just like to have some funds ready, just in case. I'm finished paying down a loan two months from now and I was planning to convert that monthly expense into PPL education. Theory and practical does go on simoultaneously but here in Norway, we don't always have the best weather. Sometimes they have to cancel scheduled airtime with students because of that. Will pop in at the aeroclub from time to time, yes. Cheers!

I say go with the cheaper one, or if the price is the same, take the one with better avionics. You WILL appreciate a good HSI, glass cockpit or a GPS over the steam gauges when you get to do the IR, or when you get into some less then pleasant weather.

Piper's fuel cock is a nuisance (one more task, have to switch it left or right all the time), and due to the low wing takes less crosswind on landings. Also, in most low wing models you have to fiddle with the fuel pump on takeoff. etc. However, Piper usually has a more simple engine startup procedures (talk about the 172SP "three hands" startup) and tends to have less draught in the cockpit (real important in cold weather, trust me ). Newer Cessnas float quite a bit on landing, as they have a very low stalling speed. Pipers float less, but are easier to stall. On the other hand, you can hardly notice you've stalled a Piper (which can be dangerous), in a Cessna power-on stalls are quite dramatic, though harmless.

As with visibility - low wing means you don't see anything approaching you from below or opposite from the side you're turning to, high wing - the opposite. But for that reason high wing is better for "IFR" (I follow roads) navigation. Anyway, horses for courses - my favourite single engine now is a PA28R with a turbo engine, HSI and Garmin G530 - rather cheap to fly, pretty fast and fully IFR, and less complicated than, say, C-172RG which we have also in our flying club, which was my favorite before.

Both Cessna and Cherokee are docile, stable and forgiving airplanes. The differences are as above, but if I was making a choice it would come down to the two particular planes, and avionics especially.