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Welcome Greg. We have a 1968 C-150. It is fun to fly and a great airplane (one of Cessna's best in my opinion -- not ours but the 150 in general). Our '68 is an "H" model though. The only real problem we have had is sticking valves a couple of times. We also had a real problem with water in the fuel when we bought the airplane over five years ago. We replaced the gaskets on the filler neck and have not had a problem since. Good luck on your search.

A New Guy!!!!

Welcome Greg!!!

Thanks Everybody!

Welcome Greg!

Welcome, Greg! All good advice above, especially about expanding your opportunities. Don't fall in love with the first airplane you look at, especially at this asking price (not exorbitant for a solid 150, but on the high end of the scale in this economy).

Work out who pays for what with the owner before the annual. You of course pay the mechanic of your choice for their concurrent pre-buy inspection (guessing $150-$200... they aren't signing anything off). The owner pays for the annual itself and any needed repairs to airworthiness items (it's still his airplane until sold). Non-airworthiness or cosmetic items do not affect the annual sign-off and are negotiable between you as a condition of sale, or not.

If you like the mechanic that is doing this annual, there's probably no reason not to use him/her in the future. But, you still need someone impartial and experienced on 150's to look over their shoulder for the pre-buy. LOTS of things can be missed that might bite you at next annual with a new to this airplane mechanic.

Your first annual with a new mechanic will probably be the most in-depth inspection it will have for some years to come, and therefore often that much more costly. It's not a bad thing to discover what's really needed, but better to find them now, not after you've bought the plane.

I went and looked at another plane today and find that there are so many available it makes the search more complicated! I have a general question regarding hail damage. The plane I looked at has hail damage but the dents are rather small. If I were to get over the cosmetic issue, are there other concerns I should consider?

The owner is a mechanic who has owned it if for four years. He spent hours with me opening things up and looking at logs.

Here is the one I looked at, again I welcome the feedback and thank you.

1976 150M • $21,900 • FOR SALE BY WIFE • 450 SMOH, New ECI cyl kits, New Mags, Harness, Plugs, Overhauled Carb, B&C Lightweight "NO Clutch" Starter, Oil Filter mod, 3 Light Strobe Kit and 1 tail strobe on Vert fin, King Digital KX-155 with Glideslope, Garmin GX-55 GPS, David Clark Intercom , Cessna Encoded Transponder, All Plastic interior recently replaced, After market sun visors. 6870 TT.

No. In fact the dimples give the plane more lift, like those on a golf ball.

All kidding aside, the small dimples don't affect the way the plane flies, but you can use them as a bargaining point to bring down the price.

My plane used to be owned by a flight school and parked outside. It has small dimples all over the top surfaces. It flies just fine.

All kidding aside, the small dimples don't affect the way the plane flies, but you can use them as a bargaining point to bring down the price.


....but remember that point if/when it comes time for YOU to sell the plane. Then the roles will be reversed.

I had a 150 that had hail damage on the wings. The dents were small but there were lots of them. You couldn't see them just walking by the plane but they were certainly visible when you got close to the plane. The plane flew well and I had no problems with it.

I would not shy away if the damage is not severe, but it does affect the value. I'd concentrate on the rest of the systems and the engine. I'd also check how much it has flown in the last few years and on what kind of overhaul was done to the engine (factory, field to new limits, field to serviceable limits, etc).

AOPA Vref values a plane like that (no damage, complete logs) at around $23,200, mainly because of the time since the overhaul. That added almost $5,000 to the value. The market has been fairly depressed so I'm sure you can shave some money off the final price.

Good luck!

....also, should you ever repaint the plane, EVERY ding/dent will stick out like a sore thumb....