Might be ferrying a cessna 150 next week... tips?

Ted DuPuis said:
I've been doing a lot of ferryings of planes that have had questionable mechanical states the past few years. The following has managed to not get me killed.

1) Do a thorough pre-flight. Very thorough. Assume the mechanics are trying to kill you.
2) Pick a good weather day. Clear and a million is preferable. You want to stay in VMC at all times and assume the instruments are going to try to kill you.
3) Do a couple laps around the airport at altitude (not T&Gs) before you leave the area. Watch oil pressure.
4) Fly IFR if it's reasonable to do so and you are appropriately rated. Otherwise, get flight following.
5) Carry a 406 PLB.
6) Land after one hour, preferably at an airport with good services. Check the oil and do a thorough walk-around.
7) Carry a notepad to write up squawks you find on the plane (you will find them).
8) Make sure your path takes you near good airports along the way. Know where some of them are.

I realize this plane should be in good mechanical state, but you still shouldn't trust it since it's new to you and your friend.

Skill wise, if you can fly a 172, you can fly a 150. I wouldn't worry about that one bit.
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Great advice! thank you.
 
calberto said:
I have a ton of time in 172's, but none in 150's/152's. I'll definitely take it around the patch a couple of times. Good thinking.
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What is a " ton of time" in a 172? How many hours do you have. ? You should have no problem flying this airplane, especially if you have time in a champ as the picture depicts. . You should not have to study much to get in it and fly it. The trip is not that long. Be sure it's in decent shape and fly it.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
What is a " ton of time" in a 172? How many hours do you have. ? You should have no problem flying this airplane, especially if you have time in a champ as the picture depicts. . You should not have to study much to get in it and fly it. The trip is not that long. Be sure it's in decent shape and fly it.
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Maybe not a "ton," compared to others, but most of my time is in 172's. Over 100 hrs in a 172 for sure. I think I have about fifty or sixty hours in the champ.
 
calberto said:
Maybe not a "ton," compared to others, but most of my time is in 172's. Over 100 hrs in a 172 for sure. I think I have about fifty or sixty hours in the champ.
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If you have over a hundred hours in a 172, flying the 150 shouldn't be a problem. It's just a little bit more responsive than the semi-"sluggish" handling of a 172 but performance is weaker.
 
hankrausch said:
just curious--are these standard margins?
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The three of us who fly this plane record almost every fill up on a Google Sheet that has the Hobbs time for the flight. We vary from sub 6gph to high 8s, and I once posted 9gph.

I plan for 10 gph cross country, and give myself 3.5 hr maximum legs. It's usually just on 8, and I'm fillling up shy of 30 gallons with a solid hour of reserve. But any number of things might eat into my reserve fuel, and I don't really need to be anywhere badly enough to risk it.

I'm a 400-hr pilot, we can talk again in another thousand hours. But I think the principle is solid.
 
hankrausch said:
This caught my attention! just curious--are these standard margins? My standard burn is 6 and I factor for 7 and usually run it out 4 hours with a 30 gallon tank. 10 for 7-8 seems way conservative, I would never get anywhere at that rate!
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A good conservative fuel burn for the 150 is about 6.5 gph. For a 172 I have always gone with 8. If I recall correctly, the POH says it's somewhere around 6.4 for a 172 at altitude.
 
West Virginia -- orographic lift as wind blows from the west toward the mountains tends to cause towering cumulus buildups that you will be unable to fly over in a 152. And it causes showers, too.

If you can't go under these clouds just turn around and try in the early morning.
 
When I was delivering PA-28s from Vero Beach to Seattle the rules were: No night, no IFR. Beyond that it was just common sense.

Bob Gardner
 
I would keep a close eye on fuel for the first few legs. For example, instead of trying to go 3 hours (assuming you have 4 hours of fuel), first go 2 hours, land and check the remaining fuel. You should have 2 hours left. If not, it's burning more than you thought and you'll have to adjust accordingly. And of course check the oil every time you put fuel in it.
 
I would plan 2.5 hr legs or so. That will leave you about 45 minutes to an hour reserve, maybe a little more. Lean agressively. In this hot weather, allow plenty of room for climb out. Be sure to pay attention to the color of the fuel sample. If the 150 is tied down, they sometimes get water.
 
hankrausch said:
This caught my attention! just curious--are these standard margins? My standard burn is 6 and I factor for 7 and usually run it out 4 hours with a 30 gallon tank. 10 for 7-8 seems way conservative, I would never get anywhere at that rate!
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10 GPH is a good estimate for a low altitude flight in a 172, where you don't lean. I'll typically plan for 9 in a 172, though the book value is 8.5 at 75% power. Due to terrain, I don't like to cruise at 1500 MSL.

A 150 has much lower fuel burn, and 10 GPH is way too high unless you fly inverted and dump all the fuel out the vents.
 
I've flown both the 152 and 172 as an instructor and found the two to be worlds apart.

Well "worlds apart" may be a bit of an exaggeration, but truly they weren't all that similar.
 
I have flown a C150 on (..checking airnav..) 1100 and 1300nm trips twice each. A couple of them were one day trips. None of them had a panel gps, and a couple trips had a boat loran only. Good times although I think it screwed up some body parts on these trips. One was a winter trip and I discovered the heater had been wired closed as it was Miami plane, 1st stop I was hypothermic so the first thing I did was duct-tape the cold air inlets closed as the off part was missing on both sides.
I know a guy with a 150 who travels 2x/year, to & from Alaska (here is near the Mx border) ie multi-thousand mile trips.
 
[QUOTE="A 150 has much lower fuel burn, and 10 GPH is way too high unless you fly inverted and dump all the fuel out the vents.[/QUOTE]

How else would I fly it? :)
 
somorris said:
I would plan 2.5 hr legs or so. That will leave you about 45 minutes to an hour reserve, maybe a little more. Lean agressively. In this hot weather, allow plenty of room for climb out. Be sure to pay attention to the color of the fuel sample. If the 150 is tied down, they sometimes get water.
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45 min reserve may be fine after a few legs when you are very comfortable with the fuel burn. 45 min really isn't much. It sure doesn't get you very far in a 150 if you have to divert.
 
Make sure you know how the flap switch works on a C150 vs a C172. I think the older ones on 150s you have to hold the switch down to get the flap setting you want. Same thing when retracting, hold it up. Newer 172s have a stop for every flap setting. Just something to be careful of as it could cause a serious problem (crash) on a T&G or a Go Around.
 
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mscard88 said:
Make sure you know how the flap switch works on a C150 vs a C172. I think the older ones on 150s you have to hold the switch to get the flap setting you want. Same thing when retracting. Newer 172s have a stop for every flap setting. Just something to be careful of as it could cause a serious problem (crash) on a T&G or a Go Around.
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I think I've flown a 172 with that style flap system actually, but I know that this 150 has retractable flaps. (which I prefer).
 
calberto said:
I think I've flown a 172 with that style flap system actually, but I know that this 150 has retractable flaps. (which I prefer).
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Yes the C172 have that system as well. Just something to be aware of. Knew a guy who went the runway and flipped over because he was used to the newer flap selector and his plane was an older C172. He was ok, his partner wasn't happy. :D
 
mscard88 said:
Yes the C172 have that system as well. Just something to be aware of. Knew a guy who went the runway and flipped over because he was used to the newer flap selector and his plane was an older C172. He was ok, his partner wasn't happy. :D
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Oh no! that's not good. Thanks for the heads up!
 
Yeah I suspect he thought he was retract the flaps by selecting it in the up position, which they would do w/ newer systems, but they were actually still almost fully deployed. All that drag and then he got airborne a bit and somehow lost it. I thought he had run off the runway but not real sure how he flipped.
 
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Fearless Tower said:
45 min reserve may be fine after a few legs when you are very comfortable with the fuel burn. 45 min really isn't much. It sure doesn't get you very far in a 150 if you have to divert.
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You're right about not getting too far in 45 minutes! Maybe 60 nm or so. Planning for 2.5 hour legs should actually leave more than 45 minutes, but I NEVER want to be one of "those guys" who runs the tanks dry :). Besides, an old guy like me is ready to get out and walk around after sitting there a couple hours.
 
Well the flight just got postponed for at least a week, so that gives me more time to learn about the plane!
 
calberto said:
I think I've flown a 172 with that style flap system actually, but I know that this 150 has retractable flaps. (which I prefer).
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For Cessna 150/152:
Manual flaps up through 1965 (1964 for 172);
Electric flaps with toggle switch spring-loaded up and down, 1966-67 (1965-67 for 172);
Electric flaps with toggle switch spring-loaded down and detent up, 1968-76;
Pre-select electric flaps 1977 and thereafter
 
mscard88 said:
Make sure you know how the flap switch works on a C150 vs a C172. I think the older ones on 150s you have to hold the switch down to get the flap setting you want. Same thing when retracting, hold it up. Newer 172s have a stop for every flap setting. Just something to be careful of as it could cause a serious problem (crash) on a T&G or a Go Around.
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This is why I was taught to simply look outside on Cessnas so you know what they're doing. One of those minor things a high wing offers that you can't do on many low wings. Totally minor, but looking outside is a good habit to get into.
 
The momentary switches have to be held to go down, but not
denverpilot said:
This is why I was taught to simply look outside on Cessnas so you know what they're doing. One of those minor things a high wing offers that you can't do on many low wings. Totally minor, but looking outside is a good habit to get into.
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You can also see at least one wheel on a retract as well. With a wing mirror, you can see all three.
 
MAKG1 said:
You can also see at least one wheel on a retract as well. With a wing mirror, you can see all three.
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Yeah, and also see if you're really on centerline by looking at the nose wheel in the mirror, too. :)
 
Having done cross-countries with them previously, best piece of advice:
Visit The POTTIE before strapping in!!
 
If conditions are right be generous with the carb heat. I know our 150 never burns more than 6 gph at 2400-2500 rpms, leaned. Bring a fuel stick if aren't able to fly full fuel.
 
MAKG1 said:
The momentary switches have to be held to go down, but not

You can also see at least one wheel on a retract as well. With a wing mirror, you can see all three.
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There are some out there that are momentary both directions.
 
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