CFI scared of 152s.

[81Horse]

Hmm. Are you planning to move on to flying freight? 'Cause if you think those 152s have been rid hard and put up wet, well ...

 

[Airway]

RP,

I couldn't agree more. Compared to a 150/152, a 172 handles like a truck with front end problems.

I wouldn't worry about the O-235 in the 152, either. It has a TBO of 2400 hours, a fair bit above the O-320 in most 172s. The dang things will run almost forever, and burn less gas to boot.

The 150/152's biggest problem is that it was designed in an era when not everyone was a complete LARD A$$.

Sounds like this kid did his training at a pilot mill, and is afraid of anything outside his little box. I hate to see him confronted with anything REALLY "exotic", like a Cub, Maule, or goodness sakes, a 177.

And whats with the complaining? Back in the day, you took the job, learned something about the plane, and did the work without bitching to everyone. Grow up already.

Nu

What's a pilot mill? I got my Private, Instrument, and Comm in Cessnas and Pipers about as old as you sound. Took me 6 years to get to CFI. I'm no 30 day wonder. But I'm not here to defend myself, just trying to get some other people's views. Born and raised in a rusty 172 and Cherokee. Great planes. Two of my favorites. 152 obviously is not.

 

[Airway]

Hmm. Are you planning to move on to flying freight? 'Cause if you think those 152s have been rid hard and put up wet, well ...

Funny thing, I would like to fly freight, granted the airplanes don't fly like ours. I'm starting to wonder if it's maybe just our FBO's 152s that never work. Starting problems, radios always fail, creaky everything. I don't know.

 

[Way2Broke]

The school I instructed at had 5 172s, and 1 152 in the single engine department. I always sold the 172 to the student as just as economical because it went faster, thus they would get their CC's done faster and get back and forth from the practice area quicker. Also, most people at the FBO I taught at rented our planes after they got their rating. So, I also used it as a selling point that if you train in the 172, then after you get your rating you would not need to spend the money on the insurance required check out. It is already taken care of when you solo in the 172. (At least it was where I taught) It was not that I was scared of the 152, god knows I loved to do spin endorsements in the 152, it was mostly that they are so uncomfortable to fly in with a student, and on a hot summer day the performance with the 110 hp engine flat out stinks!

 

[81Horse]

... I'm starting to wonder if it's maybe just our FBO's 152s that never work. Starting problems, radios always fail, creaky everything. I don't know.

Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree Syndrome. Nobody loves them.

 

[NW_Pilot]

I'm a little anxious about flying 152s, and let's not b.s. each other, pretty much every 152 out there is a pile of sh*t. They're old, they're often not well maintained, and you're not going to make it out alive if you bounce too hard.

As a CFI, I've never been afraid of flying anything that's well maintained. I just have trouble getting into the 152s. I feel unsafe. There is nothing I can do about that. I know the risks of flying, and I know what me and the airplane are capable of. But when I close the cardboard door of that thing, I feel unprotected and exposed. The lawnmower engine doesn't help, either.

Anyways, any way to quell these fears or am I the only one on here that feels this way.

I like my 150!!!! It's not been abused in any way.

 

[JumpCaptain]

Anyways, any way to quell these fears or am I the only one on here that feels this way.

I was a little nervous in them when I was just starting out. Then an instructor/friend of mine took me up and we did some crazy a$$ spins for two hours. By the time we were done, nothing could bother me.

My advise: Get another instructor to go up with you and play with it till it doesn't bother you anymore.

Now, I'd have to say the 150/152 is probably my favorite GA plane for "fun flying".

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Nindiri]

How many turns do you let it go?

I liked the Skipper better.

All kidding aside, I don't really like to spin the Tomahawk either. I haven't flown one in a long time, but when I did I usually limited it to only 1 or 2 turns.

I like the Skipper too. My only complaint, other than the wimpy name, was that it was a little underpowered. It was a good trainer, though.

 

[NuGuy]

What's a pilot mill? I got my Private, Instrument, and Comm in Cessnas and Pipers about as old as you sound. Took me 6 years to get to CFI. I'm no 30 day wonder. But I'm not here to defend myself, just trying to get some other people's views. Born and raised in a rusty 172 and Cherokee. Great planes. Two of my favorites. 152 obviously is not.

Heyas,

Look, I can only tell you about my experiences with the 150/152s. Your's are apparently different. Properly maintained, I prefer primary training in it as opposed to a larger aircraft. Then again, I'm not that tall or large. If I had a student that was obese, that obviously changes the picture. But there are good and bad examples of each breed at almost every airport.

First and foremost, if you feel that the maintentence and/or condition of the 152 is not up to snuff, then don't fly it. Heck, if you don't want to fly it because you are uncomfortable for any reason, then don't fly it, especially with students (they pick right up on that stuff).

OTOH, If you think the condition of the airplane is unairworthy, and your issues are not fixed, then I suggest that you call 1-800-fly-safe, and leave an annonymous message to the FAA. They are bound by law to investigate all complaints. They will send a MX Inspector out and red tag the aircraft if the inspector feels that it is unairworthy.

But you need to ask yourself if the maintenence on the 152 is bad, what about the maintenence on the other aircraft? Is this a problem with just this aircraft or the entire fleet?

Nu

 

[Kream926]

Sure, they've been flying forever, which is one reason they can be considered safe. But that's more reason for me to worry. It's just a matter of time till an "o-ring" or whatever stuff that always fails in those accident reports happens to me.
.

if thats the way you look at whats to say that that wont happen to a 172, mooney, baron bonanza, cirrus. theres an inherant risk in flying and thats one of the reasons why i like it. where i work we have a na arrow and a seminole that constantly go down for maintenance but get repaired. the arrow left main light would constantly flicker on and off and i did have to go a fly by to "confirm that the gear was down. the seminole's left engine doesnt like to air re-start unless (by the book) you are indicating 120 so i never shut that one down (plus hobbs runs off the left). do i still fly em? sure i do. thats my job, the boss expects me to plus the student is paying alot of money to learn how to fly em.

in my short proffesional (believe it or not a cfi is a proffesional) flying career ive had an alternator faluir, and engine faliur and i have landed NORDO.
and im still flying.

i prefer 52's honestly. 95% of my time is in one