Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Which do you pick 150 or 152?

I totally disagree with the guy that tells you that a 150/152 is not a good instrument trainer. In my opinion a well equipped 150/152 is an EXCELENT instrument trainer for the very reasons that he gave for it being poor. The 150/152 is light and quick and is not as stable as some of its? bigger siblings; that is what makes it a good instrument trainer. I don?t claim that it will be an easy trainer; it will make you work just a little harder and pay attention a little better but will reward your efforts with a very competent instrument pilot. Once you have mastered a 150/152 for IFR flight you can fly just about any single engine plane on the gages.

A stock 150/152 is not a great instrument platform for serious traveling because its? low power gives you fewer options than one would like to have and its? limited range really limits just how far one can go and still reach an alternant (particularly in my neck of the woods). However, during training you don?t need to go far or climb high and the little 150/152s will do a grand job of teaching you to keep your head cut in and pay attention to flying the airplane.

Your observation that there a lot of IFR equipped 150/152 around is very astute. If the pilot recognizes its? limitations a 150/152 can do a credible job of IFR traveling. You can save a bunch of capital investment in one of these little fellows and use what you save to fly off the requirements for higher ratings. There will be little if any wasted time and money. All that you learn will transfer directly into complex or high performance airplanes; you will just find that they are a good bit easier to fly on the gages than your trainer.

Unless you go completely nuts when you buy you can fly your 150/152 for two or three years and then sell it for what you paid or perhaps sell it at a profit. You are going to get upgradeitus at some point but until that time the 150/152 will be a faithful, economical and amusing companion.

Good luck on your decision.

(NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH ANOTHER MAN?S AIRPLANE!)

Every word written above is true! All or none of it may apply to you! Poll 100 pilot/owners on any subject, and you'll get 100 opinions, some similar, but all different in some way. Your opinion will be 101, and it will differ in some ways too! The only opinion that counts is yours. It should be an informed opinion. The more research you do, the better informed you are. The better informed you are, the better your decisions. The better your decisions, the happier you are. Bottom line?
.....You want to be happy!

Mom said it best! "Do your homework! You can play when it's finished!"

Carl

Jeff,

I have just finished reading your article "The Art Of Aircraft Acquisition" in the May/June 2001 Newsletter. The information contained in the article is extremely useful, and at the end of the article you indicate that other information related to first time buying is forthcoming. I tried searching the database for more articles, but as I'm still bumping around in the dark here I was unable to find any additional articles you may have written. Any help you can provide will be appreciated.

As a reminder, I was "New_Member 7" a few days ago and you provided insight into a forum question regarding purchasing a 150/152. I'm the guy with the "snobby" friends that thought a 150/152 is a waste of money.

Thanks again for all your help. It's great to have people willing to share knowledge and experiences that keep others out of the briar patch!

John,

Check your private messaging (if you haven't used before, there will be a little envelope flashing by your name at the top)

Jeff