As Steve, Patrick, and others who you have spoken to have already noted, there’s nothing from a legal perspective that would prohibit using a Comanche for primary training.
However, putting on my instructor hat for a minute, I’d make sure my student was aware that:
It’s going to take longer, perhaps even twice as long, to learn in a Comanche vs, say, a Cherokee. The Comanche is a more demanding plane. I am also going to need to give you additional instruction so I can provide required High Performance and Complex endorsements before you can solo.
You’re going to be a student, and students are hard on airplanes. How do you feel about beating on an airplane you’ve just bought and put tens of thousands of dollars into? Landing is hard, and as a student, you *will* have some ugly ones. Maybe better to put those on someone else’s trainer airplane.
The vast majority of people who start initial certificate flight training don’t finish it. If you need to step away from your training or abandon it entirely, you’ve still got an aircraft to deal with. If you’re renting while training, that’s not an issue.
Ownership generally has a steep and expensive learning curve, even more so when it’s a more complicated and rare airplane like a Comanche. Make sure you understand the financials involved. An annual inspection may cost $2k, but it also may cost $15k. A low-time engine isn’t a guarantee; it could blow up next year and cost you $60k, etc etc. And of course, when your airplane is down for maintenance, your training is paused.
Lastly, are you sure (as a low-time student) that a Comanche is the *right* plane for your long term mission? If it is, then there may be a benefit to ignoring the increased costs and risks, and becoming familiar with it from day one. If you’re not sure, my advice is to get an initial certificate, and then look into ownership.
Just a few things to think about…
