A Piper Cherokee 140... good first plane?

Dave Butler wrote:

Cecil Chapman wrote:

I'm beginning the process of looking for my own plane and have heard
lots of advice. Most have advised against getting something like a
Cherokee 140 and opt instead for something like a Cessna 172 or a
Cherokee 180. Now, most 172 N's that I've flown have a 160 HP
engine. It is my understanding that the Cherokee 140 has a 150 HP
engine (about comparable to the engine size of a 172M). Will I really
miss out on the extra 10 hp difference between the C172N and the
Cherokee 140?


Some random observations:

The up-front cost of a higher powered Cherokee is higher.

The fuel cost for a higher powered Cherokee is higher.

The maintenance cost for a higher powered Cherokee is almost the same.

Many people (maybe not you) underestimate their mission. Mission creep
sets in after you make the decision.

As someone with experience as an owner, could you (or other owners who
have experienced that) expand on that? I often think it's the opposite.
I fly 160hp Warriors in a club and often think if I owned I wouldn't
want anything less capable, but then when I look honestly at my logbook,
a pretty high percentage of my flights could just as well have have been
accomplished with much less airplane, and more fun if it was the right
airplane. Of course maybe if I were an owner instead of a renter I'd
want to go farther more often, is that what causes the mission creep?

I have toyed, sometimes more seriously than other times, with purchasing
a small plane (like an Ercoupe) to use for the kind of shorter distance
or no-passengers fun flying and use club planes when I need more plane.
We have members who do that. My personal concern is keeping
proficiency in both types, particularly: if I spend so much time having
fun in an Ercoupe how good would I be at getting in the Warrior to do an
IFR flight? Also, that could be the best of both worlds but it could
also be the worst of both worlds (paying for capital and maintenance on
an owned plane while still having the availability concerns that come
with a club when I need to do more).

I save a lot of money by thinking this kind of stuff to death, rather
than acting