Please take my (free) advice as just that. I?m a 40 hour student pilot and thought about buying a four seat plane to accommodate my family but ended up buying a two seat 152.
My instructor suggested that before making the decision on which plane to buy I should consider inviting a couple of the family members along on some of our cross-country flights in the FBO's 172. It was great advice. I found that my wife and oldest son(15) were pretty much indifferent to flying. My youngest son(12), on the other hand, couldn?t get enough and wants to fly every chance he gets. I was shocked. I really thought the whole family would be jazzed on flying, but it just wasn?t the case.
I gave it a few months, but it became very clear that all I really need is two seats and heat. In my opinion a 152 is more fun to fly then a 172 which made my choice easy.
-jeff
