Welcome Gary, I grew up near Jackson, Michigan and go back each year to visit family. I'm sure you will get some great advice here. I was one of those that started out in a Piper Warrior and gradually progressed up. The nice part about flying planes like a 172 or Archer or the like is they are fairly slow and economical and easy to fly. One of my favorite planes was my 2001 Archer with dual 430, 330 with traffic uplink, AC, Stec 55x AP, and stormscope. It puttered along compared to a Bo but it gave me plenty of time to think about where I was, what my approach would be like (especially at night or in IFR), and was relatively cheap on gas, insurance, maintenance, and resale (I actually sold it for almost what I paid for it), and comfortable for 2-3 hour flights which is about my limit anyways. Also, don't have to worry about prop and gear controls while learning how to fly. Just my opinion.

Thanks for the words of encouragment everyone. It is a blast learning. One question if someone has a response is why a V tail versus a straight tail? Is there a one sentence reason or is this a thread all its own? I have ridden in a 36 but not a V tail. Is it just a preference thing or is there performance differences. The on line stats dont show any appreciable difference. maybe there is a separate thread with all the information for and against each, just point me in the right direction. Thanks

Age,
Hence, cost
Nostalgia
"The look"
My V is darn fast though and roughly 770# payload with full fuel.
TAS typically 175 or so

Saturday I passed the check ride and earned my ppl! now it is time building, weekend trips and working towards my complex and high performance endorsements. Hopefully working into some Bo time. Good to have the ppl under the belt.

Congrats Gary! Maybe we'll have better luck meeting by air than we've had on the ground.

Gary,

Congrats!

Tim

Congratulations Gary!
You now belong to a select group of people who have earned the right to learn in the sky!