Formation Flyer, I agree with you, as I'm sure most do on this forum. As nonradio said, what AOPA have produced is merely a guide, as they have always done in the past for other licences/ratings, always at the minimum hours. It is up to us instructors/flying schools to give prospective NPPL students an honest and fair estimate of the actual flying hours likely to be required to achieve the NPPL, despite the 32 hours minimum being banded about the country without a word of any extra. If we don't, then the NPPL customer (and they are a customer) could have reason to question.
As I said in a reply to nonradio somewhere else (can't remember where) the main advantages of the NPPL seem actually to lie in the ancillary benefits. Such as, less stringent medical requirements, both in standard and frequency, licence for life etc. In the longer term, putting all the emphasis on the 32 hours minimum may manifest itself to be imprudent. Indeed, at a recent AOPA NPPL seminar at Sywell, that I attended, Martin Robinson stated (or at least it seemed to me that he stated) that the NPPL's biggest selling point was, in fact, the less stringent medical requirements.
Let's see how it goes. I mean, if we all coped with the arrival of JAR, then I'm sure we can manage this!
Regards, GT.