Why CESSNA 150 Commuter is Excellent - The Best Two Seat Plane?

When the 150 came to the market, customers loved it. The exterior was as beautiful as it gets, well, not by today’s standards. Bright white is typically the base color, and a stripe of red, tan, blue, green, or orange marks the length of the aircraft. When considering the aircraft’s exterior and design, the first 150s look a bit frumpy by modern standards, with their squared-off tails and turtle deck-style fuselage, with no rear window. These unflattering characteristics created poor visibility to the rear, modest baggage space, and a placard against spins. But it was not to stay that way for long, as 150 experienced several modifications, including some dramatic ones. Some of the 150's design improvements included side-by-side seating to facilitate instruction, a tricycle landing gear for easier ground handling and landings, and a rear window.
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[Hume]

I soloed for the first time in a 150 on the morning of July 20, 1969, and again that afternoon. That evening I watched the first moon landing. Both events are linked for me, and both were wonderful.

[UncaDave]

Learned how to fly in this little bird. Put over a 1000 hours on mine. Flew it all over the east coast, from Key West to Nantucket and all over the mountains in WV. Set mine up with a full Garmin stack for instrument flying and refinished everything, paint, seats, windows and even cables. Such a great little airplane. Mine is still flying with the subsequent owners, N10518. Blue skies! At 13:35 that’s my dear little old plane, N10518!

[kingofcastlechaos]

I did my solo on my 16th birthday in a 150. I was a 90 lb kid and my instructor was well over 235. When he got out of the plan and told me to go around once on my own I was really surprised, but not nearly as surprised by the MASSIVE increase in performance without him in the aircraft! I made it to pattern altitude so fast it really freaked me out. Then on landing it just would not come on down until the last minute. Certainly memorable!! Neat memories.

[Kraals]

As a student pilot I once made the statement, "If a Cessna 150 is all I can fly, I'd just as well not fly." Much later, as a CFI, I came to have a great respect for the little airplane. It's a great airplane that does exactly what it was intended to do.

[markbuchner]

Got my license 50 years ago in a Cessna 150 and have owned one for 20 years. That's my 1974 Cessna 150L at 7:04.

[tsmgguy]

Love the C-150! Soloed one, N4792X, on my 16th birthday in 1967 and retired as a United Airlines captain almost fifty years later. Managed to give another 600 hours of flight instruction in this sturdy, predictable little aircraft along the way.

[brianjohnson]

Happy to say that I’m one of those 250, 000 Cessna 150/2 graduates. Even though I fly much heavier aluminum these days, this airplane will always have a special place in my heart!

[Retsocer]

All 150s had side by side seating. They truly are a great plane and very economical with low fuel burn and simple systems.

[cynicalrabbit]

Back in the 70s, while playing at going to college an aquintance at the school was in their flight training curriculum.
Offered to take me up late one afternoon.
We drove to the Air Patch they operated from and cramped was not even close.
I was still thin but was 6 ft 3 in and tucking that in that 150? Was a chore.
He gave me all the basics of controlling the aircraft and handed over control.
We were over the college and I ended up circling a HS football game, everyone on ground looked like tiny little blobs especially the players on the field.
I had a ball. Unfortunately I didn't get bitten by the flying bug. But have always held Cessnas in a special place in my mind if not my heart.
👍👍👍👍👍

[USNVA]

I did my flight training in 150’s and 152’s. It amazes me that Cessna doesn’t still market this aircraft. It is the quintessential flight trainer.

[Jerry]

I learned to fly in the 150 and 152. It’s a great little plane and a joy to fly. Never had any problems flying them.

[LizSmith-vuku]

I bought my 150 in 2001, n704px will always be a great memory!

[khadijagwen]

Took lessons in a 150 around 1962. Liked flying but life got in the way.

[mrvoyagerm]

Mine was a 1976 150m and had vertically adjustable seats that were fabulous. My taller flying buddy always sat with the seat all the way back and I sat forward so we weren't in each others way. By the way, all 150s were side by sides from the beginning. A fabulous plane that you could fly all day with one finger. Hard to beat that.

[eldabada]

Good morning Dwayne! Thank you very much for this “ Sentimental Trip back in time” it has been at leas 30 years since I soloed on a Cessna 152! Venerable, reliable! Forgiving! But above all “Fun to Fly” 90 kts is its natural speed! I remember one flight with a strong head wind, watching down cars on the highway moving faster that I was!! Felt static in the air…emergency engine out simulations were also fun… I even had an instructor that actually turn the engine off and had me glide back to our home airport to which I arrived to traffic pattern with ample speed and altitude - Was flying at 7500 Ft when engine was turned off and was able to glide for 15 nm! - while in the pattern downwind leg I asked the instructor: do you want me to land engine off or should I start the engine and get my “A” + for that glide….

[boncuk]

I got my PPL with this plane . Love it . 32 years a go TC- DBG

[ElsinoreRacer]

One very surprising characteristic of the 150/152: departure spins and spin recovery. I learned on a 150 in a time when spin recovery in all modes was a syllabus item. I have spun many a/c since and I have to say that in a couple respects the 150 stands out in a butt-clenching way. In a departure stall/spin (full power, nose up, none to 10deg flaps) when it lets go (almost certainly left wing), it REALLY lets go. It is the most abrupt thing you can do in a 150 and it is instantly inverted for at least 3/4 to 1 1/2 turns. It sorts itself out but holy crap, 1st time, no one sees THAT coming. Second thing is that when it stabilizes in the spin it is very nose low, which is great for the instant you stab opposite rudder. But in the instant after you stop rotation you then have a surprisingly narrow window, pointing almost straight down, between assuring flying speed and executing the pullout without over-speeding the plane. You go very quickly from being sure not to pull too soon too hard to avoid re-stall, to balancing not over-g-ing the plane vs the airspeed buildup. And yes, this assumes you pulled off power immediately after stabilizing. I have spun a lot of planes since and I find it interesting that of all of them, the one that left me feeling kind of ambushed was the 150.

[sliderule]

Always a soft spot in my heart for this plane. It’s simple but comprehensive enough to provide the full gambit of flight regimes for teaching purposes. Thanks for making this video.

[D]

I got my ppl in a 172 Skyhawk in Naples Florida and have flown 150's in Germany and Spain on a few occasions since. A great and reliable little aircraft to fly. Still prefered the 172 for comfort and space though. Due to health/age issues, I no longer fly unfortunately. Thanks for the memories anyway.

[bubbafatas]

I owned a Cessna 150 aerobat! Great little trainer! Never has one folded up doing aerobatics!