Did my ppl in the mid "80s in a Cessna 152 - a nice little two seater. Followed up with a night endorsement in a 172 and this was great - no exams, just a nice experience with the right instructor while logging hours and learning something new. The 172 is a very nice aircraft and probably the low wing match would be the Piper four place (180?). I did check out in a Piper 140 (2 seater) but still preferred the Cessna's. The only real difference I can remember other than better high wing visibility is that the 140 dropped a little more quickly on the landing approach so power was important.
At that time the Cessna 152 was using green gas and if the plane was not used regularly, the plugs seemed to foul up to much. I remember spending numerous times during the run up, revving up and down to "burn the plugs clean". Wouldn't recommend the 152 as a private aircraft unless you don't mind cleaning the plugs before using. There was an after market head available for the 152 but not sure if it worked out. Not many 152's on the market now.
Somewhat later I got checked out on a Cessna 172 RG (retractable wheels) and this was a rush for me. New learnings re handling and a little more speed - especially in the circuit. I invested in a nice set of David Clark head phones for this and it was so much nicer than using the flying school models. Would recommend this for the ppl as well. The RG would be a nice cross country aircraft until moving into a twin.
Now, age has me flying all sorts of aircraft on the computer using Microsoft flight (with a standard yoke control unit/plus a joystick for the appropriate planes) and foot pedals. It gets quite realistic
