CFI scared of 152s.

[Amish RakeFight]

The fact that the doors occasionally pop open and dont close/lock very well made me feel the same way about them. I only did some spin training in it so I dont know what its like on a regular basis.

 

[timeoff]

I learned to fly in a 152. I've also had doors pop open on the takeoff roll. Should have seen my wife's face when her door came open

I remember reading something a while back about metal fatigue in the empenage which made me think twice about slipping one ever again. Something about straps to reinforce the vert stabilizer??

 

[User546]

Could it possibly be that your a little bit claustrophobic? I'm typically not, but when I get inside of a 152, I start getting very anxious, and feel to packed in like a sardine. Gives me an unsafe feeling, and like you said the cardboard door and lawnmower engine doesn't make you feel any better.

All I can say is you just have to trust the proven history and track record of these aircraft and just bite the bullet and do it! If you feel completely unsafe in them, then stay away from them. You shouldn' tbe flying airplanes you don't have complete confidence about their safety or maintenance.

 

[81Horse]

Airway, in halcyon bygone days, instructors and students alike flew beautiful new airplanes -- airplanes fresh from Wichita, Lock Haven, Vero Beach, clean of carpet and seat, shiny of paint, sparkling-spinnered and wheel-panted and tight of cable, smooth of engine.

Those days are gone.

Still, the airplanes soldier on. Remember this: if it's been flying safely for twenty-five years, odds are in your favor that it will continue to do so. I like the 150/152.

I wouldn't spin a Tomahawk, though. Piper's ad campaign: Can 10,000 Flight Instructors Be Wrong? Answer: Yes -- yes, they can.

 

[Nindiri]

I like the Tomahawk. I just don't look back at the tail during stalls or spins. My motto: what I can't see won't hurt me.

 

[81Horse]

How many turns do you let it go?

I liked the Skipper better.

 

[Kream926]

grow a pair dude!

the fitee-duece is a great trainer. takes a lickin' and jeeps askin for more as far as hard landings. had a cfi get fired for now wanting to fly one. i would be nice thou to pick and chose which planes i wanna fly as a cfi.

the engine is small but its been the same design for how many years? besides once you "master" a 52 you can put that thing down on the infield of a baseball field.

once again, grow a pair and good luck demanding what planes you will fly as a cfi

 

[PHX767]

I remember when I thought the 172 was a truck too...

Our flight school had 152's, 172's, warriors, and the usual assortment of retractables and twins. I have 3 times as much dual given in the 172 than the 152. The program students were all in the 152 because it was cheaper for the school to get them the hours. The part 61 students generally chose the warrior or the 172 for a bunch of reasons, comfort being primary.

I like the 152. I have... err.. outgrown flying with another person in one except maybe my grandkids. They are light on the controls and feel like a little sports car. Really fun to putt around and use so little fuel. Put full flaps down and here that beer can action from the tail... they have been doing that for a long time and I have yet to hear of a tail falling off. If the engine stops, plop it down in a parking lot and have room to spare.

If the original poster decides to not fly in them, there may be deeper issues. He is limiting his time building ability artificially. And isnt't that why you are there?

 

[NuGuy]

I didn't care for the 172 after flying the 152. It's (the 152) a better training platform for a student and doesn't drive like a truck.

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 damn 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

 

[Airway]

grow a pair dude!

the fitee-duece is a great trainer. takes a lickin' and jeeps askin for more as far as hard landings. had a cfi get fired for now wanting to fly one. i would be nice thou to pick and chose which planes i wanna fly as a cfi.

the engine is small but its been the same design for how many years? besides once you "master" a 52 you can put that thing down on the infield of a baseball field.

once again, grow a pair and good luck demanding what planes you will fly as a cfi

Well, to be sure, this has nothing to do with a lack of balls. Ironically enough, I have a fair amount of 152 time (not much, maybe 20 hours). I suppose as someone mentioned above that it might be the claustrophobic aspect. I feel like I'm trapped and squeezed in the thing. It's just very uncomfortable, and to top it off, whether or not it was bright and gleaming when it was new, they're all piles of sh*t now (I've never seen one maintained in new/fresh condition or redone--wouldn't really be worth the cost), you can't convince me otherwise. I feel like they're being flown to death, and its only until they crash are they going to be replaced.

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.

Maybe it's just been a rough week. I don't know. I'll keep flying them because it's my job, just trying to figure out how to quell the discomfort.