The 152 I flew was decked out and fully IFR compliant and yet did not cost that much since it was an older plane. I have flown a 172 as well but the one I really want to fly is in FSX and that is a Cessna 182. There is a significant leap forward when you move from a 172 to a 182. Unfortunately there is also a significant leap in price. Most of the small planes I flew only had about 125 to 150 hp and some like the 152 had an airspeed indicator that read in mph instead of knots. It would be nice to get my hands on a Mooney Bravo but they are not cheap since there are in the 200+ hp range. My most memorable moment in the 152 was practicing low speed manuevering with full throttle and flaps down a notch or two and watching cars on the interstate below me going faster than my plane.That's the cheapest plane the school I'm going to has....
The saying with a taildragger is that you are not done flying it until it is stopped. Even taxiing the Cub tail dragger was a tough ordeal on rough bumpy ground. If you didn't hold the stick fully back the tail wanted to bounce all over which needless to say is not good on the tail. Landing is a bit different in a tail dragger but you still touch down on the mains and then let the tail slowly glide down. I prefer landing in planes with the tricycle gear configuration b/c when you touch down on the mains you can be hard on the brakes and won't nose it over. Not so with a tail dragger. If you are hard on the brakes when you touch down in a tail dragger you will probably be buying a new prop and possibly a new engine.Actually, they have a taildragger, too, but I heard that's a lot more difficult.
