wrote in message
...
"W P Dixon" wrote:
Yep makes me really appreciate a 40/hr Champ!

Was just going to add that you don't HAVE to learn to fly in a
172**SP**! I realize that's the one in the videos that Cessna Pilot
Centers use in their training ... what great marketing strategy, huh?

Yes there is a marketing aspect to it. It is after all a CESSNA pilot
course.

"Let's encourage customers to spend almost twice as much as they have
to." An older, less-expensive-to-rent C172 or even a C152 (depending on
what you and your CFI weigh) will do just fine. You don't need a GPS or
AutoPilot or some of the other high-tech gadgets in the SP to learn how
to fly. IMO, that's just paying through the nose for stuff throughout
the training that you won't use until much later. Of course, if money is
no object ...

Except when you get into a really oddball situation (like I did early on...)
where you are flying a C172M with an ASI calibrated in MPH ! Mental
gymnastics were the last thing I needed when all I wanted to do was remain
upright and headed in one general direction.

Personally, I think changing from 172M/Ns to SPs probably saved me money in
the long run becuase it became much more of a Read / Watch / Do without a
lot of interpolation or conversion. V-speeds, weights, etc, all translated
directly from PC screen to cockpit. The price difference (at the time) was
all of $15 an hour.

As far as the avionics go, I'm something of a gadget-geek anyways so I
didn't find the electronics all that intimidating. I was able to get beyond
simple "Direct To" pretty quickly.

Regards,

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
Chandler, AZ