The History Of Cessna 150-152 Aircrafts
Founder Clyde Cessna built his first airplane in 1911, and taught himself to fly it! He went on to build a number of innovative airplanes, including several race and award winning designs. In 1934, Clyde’s nephew, Dwane Wallace, fresh out of college, took over as head of the company. During the depression years Dwane acted as everything from floor sweeper to CEO, even personally flying company planes in air races (several of which he won!) Under Wallace’s leadership, the Company making Cessna Aircraft eventually became the most successful general aviation company of all time.Cessna first began production of two seat light planes in 1946 with the model 120 which had an all aluminum fuselage and fabric covered wings. This was followed by a nearly identical model 140, with aluminum clad wings. More than 7,000 model 120-140’s were sold. Cessna stopped production of the 140 in 1951 in order to focus on four seat aircraft.
In 1966 Cessna restyled the airplane, adding a jaunty slant to the tail. The new style was enormously popular with pilots. Cessna made 3,000 model 150’s that year, the most of any year in the airplane’s history. That year Cessna also began assembly of 150’s at Reims Aviation in France. A total of 2,452 planes were built by Reims, including 47 assembled in Argentina.
The Cessna 150 standard engine is a four cylinder, 100 horsepower, Continental model 0-200. During it’s 18 year production history there were many changes to the 150 airframe and configuration.In 1970 Cessna introduced the model 150 “Aerobat” which became very popular in the Aerobatic training market, and remains a popular sport airplane.
In 1978 Cessna introduced a revised model, the 152, with a 110 horsepower Lycoming 0-235 engine. The Lycoming was chosen to make the 152 more tolerant of the extra lead in the new 100LL fuel, as well as provide a long overdue increase in horsepower. The cabin was also widened slightly to make room for the increased girth of late 20th century pilots. Unlike the Model 150, there were few changes in 152’s from one year to the next.
By the end of production in 1985, 31,533 Cessna 150-152’s had been manufactured worldwide. More pilots have flown Cessna 150-152’s than any other single model of airplane. Like most light plane companies in the US, Cessna stopped building light aircraft all together in the mid 1980’s because of excessive product liability lawsuits. The last Model 152 rolled off the production line in 1985.
Today Cessna is once again in the light aircraft business, building 172’s, 182’s and 206’s. Unfortunately, the high cost of production and insurance premiums make it unlikely that Cessna will reintroduce an affordable two seat aircraft. In the meantime, used 150-152’s are selling for three to five times their original price. Still, by comparison, the low quantities and astronomical prices of most other airplanes make the Cessna 150-152 one of the few genuine bargains in private aviation. Remarkably, 48 years after production began and 19 years since it ended, more than two thirds of all Cessna 150-152’s built are still flying.
