BBC Ode to the 172

skier

skier

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
968
Location
CT
Display Name
Display name:
Skier
The plane so good it's still in production after 60 years.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170302-the-plane-so-good-its-still-in-production-after-60-years

I learned some good new stuff in the article :rolleyes::

The 172 was based on an earlier Cessna design called the 150. This looked very similar apart from the fact it was a “taildragger” – instead of a wheel at the front, the 150 had a smaller wheel at the back, underneath the tailfin (like most aircraft before the arrival of jets). The 150 enjoyed the benefits of a light aircraft boom in the years following World War Two, as many of the companies that had produced tens of thousands of military aircraft now turned their attention to civilian aircraft.

The design was so clean and aerodynamic that Cessna’s marketing department dubbed it the “land-o-matic”

The Cessna 150 was a very successful design – nearly 24,000 were made in a 19-year production run – but it only had enough room for two; the pilot and one passenger. Cessna saw the gap for a bigger model that could take twice as many people. So the basic design of the 150 was modified, and made more robust – where the 150 was made of a fabric skin stretched around a frame, the 172 was made of aluminium.
Click to expand...
 
Wow.

I saw something similar yesterday about why big commercial jets fly more slowly today than they did in the 60s. They compared the three major types of aircraft engines, turboprop, turbofan, turbojet. They then showed examples of 'prop' planes. "Almost any propeller plane you see today is a turboprop." Meanwhile all examples are pistons. Then he talked about high bypass turbofans and completely got the explanation incorrect. Then, he want on to talk about how aircraft do not cruise above .8 mach or 750 miles per hour (apparently that's the speed of sound?)...

You know what, screw it, here's the video...
 
150, 140, 170... they all look the same :)
 
labbadabba said:
Wow.

I saw something similar yesterday about why big commercial jets fly more slowly today than they did in the 60s. They compared the three major types of aircraft engines, turboprop, turbofan, turbojet. They then showed examples of 'prop' planes. "Almost any propeller plane you see today is a turboprop." Meanwhile all examples are pistons. Then he talked about high bypass turbofans and completely got the explanation incorrect. Then, he want on to talk about how aircraft do not cruise above .8 mach or 750 miles per hour (apparently that's the speed of sound?)...

You know what, screw it, here's the video...
Click to expand...

Gotta love the biplane formation to exemplify the slow speeds of turboprops.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top