Buying A Cessna 150
The Cessna 150 took to the air for its maiden flight in September 1957 from Wichita , Kansas in the USA . Today, some 50 years later, the Cessna 150 is still far from becoming obsolete and not quite ready to occupy a permanent position in aviation museums. On the contrary, the feisty little the 150 is still up there strutting its stuff and is still considered by many pilots and enthusiasts as one of the greatest two-seater airplanes ever produced in the USA .
Interestingly, more than 30,000 Cessna 150 and Cessna 152 airplanes were manufactured world-wide in the 27-year period between 1958 and 1985. In spite of the fact that production was stopped all that time ago, there are still more than 20,000 registered Cessna 150 and Cessna 152's gracing the skies today.
Since its production started in September 1958, the Cessna 150 has not changed much. Naturally some minor product updates and improvements were affected over time, the most noteworthy of which happened in 1964 when the Cessna 150D was released with a wrap-around rear window. Significantly, the US manufactured Cessna 150 still boasts its original Continental O-200A engine.
There are mainly five factors in support of the 150's longevity. They are easy to fly, safe, economical to operate, reasonably priced and really easy to maintain.
How safe is the Cessna 150?
Safety records indicate that the 150 is one of the safest small airplanes ever built. To illustrate: In the USA in 2003, 136 of the registered 18,420 Cessna 150 and 152's in the USA were involved in accidents. This equates to an accident rate of less than 1%. In the same year, 18 of the 1,039 US registered Piper PA-38 Tomahawks were also involved in accidents. This equates to an accident rate of 6% .
Let us place these figures further into perspective. During 2003, more than half of the registered Cessna 150 airplanes were flown by student pilots. By comparison, very few Tomahawks were flown for training purposes. Around two thirds of the Cessna accidents during that year were caused by pilots undergoing training or by human error, such as running out of fuel.
This is impressive, to say the very least.
Perhaps the secret to the superb safety record lies in the fact that the Cessna 150 is an easy to fly airplane. Perhaps it is its sturdy build or the simplicity of its engine and its uncomplicated landing gear. It may even be its ability to better recover from stalls and spins.
Whatever the reasons, the Cessna 150 handles like a dream and offers me the peace of mind to take to the open skies, unwind and enjoy the view.