Well now; I am 6ft 2ins and weigh 95kgs. Good looking as well !
I never had any trouble fitting into a C152 or, for that matter, a Tomohawk' on both of which I have a considerable amount of instructing time.
I don't think that this Piper is an aeroplane. It's a little balsa wood look alike cooked up by Piper to satisfy the demented lusts of US instructors some thirty years ago when spinning was meant to be hell. It killed a lot of them in the beginning before Piper amended the POH to indicate that the spin recovery was a non-standard one. That might have changed now but then, as far as I know, spinning is no longer required for the UK PPL.
It really is a horrid little piece of tin and extremely uncomfortable in hot weather, if there is ever to be any in England this summer.
I used to fly the Tomohawk in Johannesburg as well. 5,500ft pa and +35c. A true non performer. Spent more time winging it to the GF than we ever had spare to spend demonstrating the excercises of the day.
All that said; the best advice is to go for the right school and the right instructor. But in my never so humble opinion, if you are going to fly a Tomohawk solo you absolutely must be confident in spin and incipient spin recovery. Turns on to Finals with flap, low power and carb heat can lead to a rapid eruption of collywobbles unless you are fluent with the nasty little thing.
