In Germany you have to do some hours in a 4 seater aswell, you cannot do the whole PPL plus the checkflight in a 2-seater.
Jamie wrote:
Is it common for such a practice?
I specifically asked for a similar arrangement for my PPL (C152 and PA-28), but the head of training at the ATO did not permit it, saying that it’s better to first get my PPL (which I did exactly az 45 h) and then do any addition trainings.
There are two approaches to this; both valid.
One is to train in one type only, and in a “cheap” one. That gives you maximum currency and it keeps the cost to the minimum. Then if you like you can convert to something bigger afterwards, and it doesn’t take more than a few hours to do that.
The other, for those who want to “go places”, is to train in the plane you actually want to fly afterwards. That also gives you maximum currency, but it costs quite a bit more.
I would not mix the two aircraft types within the PPL, unless you want to have more “fun” but throw money at it. When you are learning, everything seems a bit hard and swapping types just compounds it.
I did my PPL at age 43, and changing from PA38 to a C152 after some 20hrs caused me to waste 10-20hrs.
Is that mandatory 4-seater an EASA requirement??
Yes, in the “big” French aeroclubs, the average time to get a PPL is about 60h and it takes 1,5 years. First solo comes after about 15hrs.
Some FIs “enjoy” doing dual cross-country flights a lot 
In small clubs (all-volunteer, grass strips…), PPLs are done quicker.
Yes, you have to fly as often as possible during training (but not more than once a day at the beginning, it’s too tiring).
Back to the OP’s question :
Getting a discount is interesting but you have to assess their finances. I would invest in a club (a French club peter :)) but maybe not in a private school (they tend to not last long). How long have they been in business ? Did they survive the crisis or are they new ?
Other important question : what are your options to fly after your training ? Do you plan to buy an airplane or will you rent ? To them or somebody else ?
Aviathor wrote:
Why would you use 2 aircraft for the training? Wouldn’t it be better to do all 45 hrs in the PA38 which I assume is the cheaper of the two?
Aviathor is right. If I were you, I would ask to do 3 hours in a PA28 (because they will ask you to do check-out flights anyway) and the rest in the PA38 (including the check ride).
Flying in a 4-seater is not a requirement for a PPL in France.
Feel free to ask any questions. There is no bad question.
Peter wrote:
Is that mandatory 4-seater an EASA requirement??
No such requirement in Hungary.
Peter wrote:
career instructors
Rather the lack of career instructors I would say. The schools where I was taught and the ones where I instruct had and have no career instructors at all. A career instructor needs to earn his living, so it is not in his interest that students finish in time. Someone who instructs beside a normal job does not have any commercial pressure.
JnsV wrote:
No such requirement in Hungary.
No such requirement anywhere in EASA-Land. Many of our students never fly anything but DA20’s in their training.
In Germany you have to do some hours in a 4 seater aswell, you cannot do the whole PPL plus the checkflight in a 2-seater.
This (German) requirement ceased to exist 14 years ago.
career instructors
Someone told me they changed instructors several times during their training, and each time the new instructor had to assess the student’s competency, which added several hours to the total.
The changed was caused by the instructor getting a RHS job
tschnell wrote:
No such requirement anywhere in EASA-Land.
It used to be a requirement under the old national rules, also in Germany. One four seater including a flight at maximum take-off mass (“Vollastflug”). Students used to bring their mum and dad (or girlfriend and her best friend – depending on age) for these flights – the legality was always doubtful but the alternative would have been to use ballast and who has 200kg of ballast anywhere? Still, including those 2 hours on a four seater, students (even those above 40 years of age!) could finish their PPL in 35 hours and would not crash and burn thereafter. 50 hours used to be the “alarm theshold” – if a student was not ready for the exam by then, the head of training (or “flight school owner” as he was called then) would take over.
