I had my Cessna 172 checkout just last weekend. Before that I have flown a variety of low-wing aircraft (Robin, Piper, Diamond) and I have a little over 100 hours. It took me an hour before the instructor signed me out, although with a restriction that I should limit myself to moderate crosswinds and moderate weights for the first few hours. Fair enough - flying up to the limits of any aircraft with only one hour on type is not very wise.
So I'd like to echo what's been said before. Grab an instructor, go fly with him for a few hours and you should be fine.
Oh, and every time I want to prepare myself for getting checked out on a new type, I grab the POH, read through it quickly from cover to cover, and then specifically go through it again, looking for the following details:
- Operation of the fuel system - compare checklist items to description
- Operation of electric system - compare checklist items to description
- Preflight items: what specifically to look for, where are the drain points
- Speeds that are not color-coded on the ASI dial: Vr, Vx, Vy, Vglide, Vref
- Calculate reference take-off and landing distances for ISA, MTOW, nil wind and compare with other types I have flown
- Do a few W&B calculations for 2, 3 and 4 average adults, full fuel. See where the problems areas are.
- Figure out cruise performance numbers (RPMs, fuel flow, IAS etc) and leaning procedure
Armed with that knowledge and the club-approved checklists for normal and emergencies I find that an actual checkout is normally a breeze.