Jim,
I'm sitting here with an (more or less) original 1975 Cessna 150 POH, which I purchased will I started flight school in 1986. It was, I believe a Cessna product; not that it came with the plane, from Wichita; but it is an authentic Cessna publication. I am also holding a brand new Essco 1971 Cessna 150 POH (3 weeks old).
Comparisons:
First, the original is yellow and coffee stained (though not originally . . . ) and the new one is snow white.
The origin cover is a glossy card stock, the replacement is not glossy and slightly lighter weight, card stock. But the difference is barely noticable. And the replacement cover is also the blue and red color, just like the original.
The replacement's diagrams show signs of having been scanned (dashed diagonal lines), the photo of the instrument panel (Fig 2.1) is slightly darker and slightly less contrast. But again, barely noticable.
The replacement occationally has a page with those point-hole sized dots, like you get from a dirty roller inside a Xerox copier(?). It may be a scanners way of dealing with those old coffee stains . . . Also, an occational page has a black line on the top or bottom, where the scanner "picked-up" the old manual's edge (see below). Anyways, its not a problem or distraction, simply not perfect.
One difference is that the original is 7.5 inches tall and its replacement is 8.5 inches tall. But I can't see any problem with that. In fact, the republication is so good and especially the cover, I didn't notice it until now.
The paper quality is identical. The print is identical. I'm looking at page 4-1 in both maunals and I cannot tell one from the other !!!
Well, of course except for the coffee stains.
The replacements print shows absolutely no sign of being copied.
So Jim, if you didn't know what the original was like (eg; glossy cover, etc), I don't think that you know that the Essco was a copy. From across the table, they're twins! And for $12, its well worth the money. Heck, you can always throw it into the bottom of your flight bag, as a spare - right?
I also picked-up their LAMINATED Cessna 150 passenger briefing card. I know its a serious thing, but I laugh each time I look at it. Its funnier than a "panic button". It looks just like an airline's safety card . . . including a diagram showing where your two "emergency exits" are located. Everybody should have one!
Essco's vintage FAA videos are however, definitely second shelf copies. Pity someone doesn't get a grant to remaster them and especially the old military weather training films. They may but dated, but a cold front is still a cold front and these films were/are excellent.
Hope this helps and wasn't too long winded.
Roger
