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The owner told me that his 150 STC is the only one on the market that retains the aerobatic capability. I am skeptical that is possible.

Through a quirk of paperwork, there is one model of the Aerobat that retains its aerobatic certification. This seems to be the result of that model letter being inadvertently left off the original STC approved by the FAA.

Now, whether or not the aerobatics are still safe (legal or not) to perform in a 150/150 is another question.

+1

As Kirk said I put the JPI FuelScan 450 [jpinstruments.com] in Woodstock and consider it to be the best upgrade I've ever done. I know exactly how much gas I've used, how much is left and how long I can fly at my current fuel usage. Once the instrument was wired into my Garmin GPSMAP 496 it told me if I had enough gas to reach my destination and how much I would have once I got there. Will I have enough to reach my alternate if it is 30 minutes away? It won't give you a number to the alternate but you can do the math in your head. What it does is take away one of the things that I used to try to calculate throughout a two hour flight.

There is a caveat of course. You have to remember to reset it after gassing up, gas up the same way every time. And self check. Before shutting down see how much was burned and how much went into the tank. If the numbers are way off there may be a problem with the fuel flow indicator. Generally the fuel flow meters are throwaway items so it should be as easy as replacing it. If the numbers are off by just a little every time and by the same amount there is a procedure in the owners manual to change the "K factor" for the flow meter.

As Kirk mentioned, the FuelScan gives me a much more comfortable feeling when flying the 150/150. I typically see 7gph (unless I'm flying with Poobs, then it is about 4gph, while doing S-Turns, while the flaps are down, with the doors open, hanging on the edge of stall) and can feel better about stretching my legs a bit. I don't challenge the fuel envelope but I don't get as nervous as I used to.

Ed is spot on in his description of the FS450 and how to use it. I put one in my 150 to have a greater comfort level in utilizing the somewhat limited range these small tanks have. I also put one in my Cherokee after I bought it, but it may be less valuable there with 48 gallons usable, although the instantaneous fuel flow display is useful info for leaning and determining power settings.

I also have an FS450 in my 150/150. I agree, it is one of the best devices to have. I do not have mine connected to a GPS but I find it quite easy to look at my GPS's ETE and the time remaining on the FS450 to get a good idea how the flight is progressing. I look for a time remaining between 45 minutes to an hour more than my ETE.

The beauty of a fuel flow computer like the FS450 is that you can readily tell if the situation is changing. A couple of years ago, I was flying home from Clinton. I stopped in Harlan, IA for fuel and was trying to make it from Harlan to North Platte, NE, a distance of 245 nautical miles. Things started out well and at the halfway point, things still looked good. After the halfway point, the winds started changing and the times on the GPS and the FS450 were converging too much for my liking. I made a precautionary fuel stop in Ord, NE.

An FS450 is a great device and I highly recommend it.

...shut up...

Hi Everyone, Here's an update on N61112 A.K.A Bud...

I just flew from Iowa Falls IA to North Platte NE. (Funny thing David, I was doing my fuel calculations as well while I was flying past ORD NE today...

So, As some of you may have guessed I took a wild risk on buying a Cessna 150 sight unseen other than pictures of the plane and pictures of the logbook showing the last annual (October of last year) Well, in one week I've flown 14 hours in Bud... Fuel burn-wise I'm burning about 5.1 Gallons per hour and 3 Quarts of oil... (not sure if this is a high burn rate on oil)... I'd be having a conniption fit if my turbine were going through oil that fast.

About the fuel/oil burn. I've noticed a White coating on the outside of the exhaust and the inside looks quite grayish white. Is this normal?

Today was the first time that Bud and I have flown in temperatures above 35 degrees... and I'm happy to report that the Oil Gauge works!! as I saw it rise once the temps started to get above 40 degrees outside.

Earlier on I had posted about my "Anemic radio" well,,, today right as I was passing BBW and ORD I noticed a loud "Squeal" whenever I tried to transmit... and then approaching North Platte I was unable to pick up the ASOS and also unable to transmit... so landed NORDO.. at KLBF... Really not very fun.

after landing I tried troubleshooting with no success... that was around 5pm today... I just went out to the airport and checked the radio again and it now works just fine. The radio is an RT-328t

The exhaust coloring sounds normal for a properly leaned engine.

The oil consumption of 1 quart/5 hours sounds higher-than-average. Make sure you're not topping of the oil up to the "6" quart mark. That first quart blows overboard quickly. Typically 150s get much better oil consumption keeping the level between "4" and "5" (i.e. - since there's no "5" mark add a quart of oil when it drops to "4").

Your fuel burn rate of 5.1 gal/hr is normal (much better than the 8 gal/hr that the owner told you). 3 qts of oil in 14 hrs is on the high side. Where are you keeping the oil level on the dipstick? As I mentioned earlier, anything above the 5-qt will get blown out very quickly.

The grayish white inside the exhaust is good. If it's sooty black, you're running the engine too rich.

Thanks for the prompt reply Kirk and Hung,

I'm keeping the oil between 4 and 5 quarts.

The area under the cowl seems to be somewhat damp with oil, particularly the lower area. Wondering if I might have a leak. Going to pull the cowl of this week and see what I can see.