Traumahawk
Just my 2 pennies worth:
I trained in a PA38 all the way up to PPL plus 5 hours solo from Barton. I remember one of my instructors saying that if you can land a PA38 at Barton in a 15 kt crosswind, you can land just about anything. Which means that when you nail those circuits and then change to another type, it's well easy.
Is the PA38 unstable in the stall? Yup. You HAVE to keep the A/C in balance.
Is the trim !!!!!e? Yes, but it teaches you to trim well.
Does it float for ever on the flare (compared to other 2 seaters)? Yes, but it teaches you to nail that final approach speed early on.
The visablility is fantastic and you have to work hard on your scan (for a PPL) to maintain S&L.
When you consider that it's (in my experience) by far the cheapest A/C that flying schools run, it is a fantastic A/C to do your PPL in. No regrets from me.
Just joined a PA28-181 group (beautiful A/C). A dream to fly after the Tommy.
Do your PPL with a good school as cheaply as possible. And the Tommy is cheap.
EK