Replies

Not to mention, the door in a 152 latches first, then clamps from the inside.

Never unbuckle. We found this out the hard way when approsching a mountain ridge on the windward side at a 90 degree angle. My head smashed the air ducts on the ceiling, my family was glued to the cabin ceiling.

I think you're thinking of a 172.

It's the low wing Pipers that have the door latch and the secondary clamp latch.

My first solo was in a 152. I have about 60 hours in the shoulder scruncher. Once I proved to my designated Flight Examiner that a 152 cannot full stall in an accelerated stall attempt, We moved up to Piper Arrows. The only good thing IMHO of the 152, and 172 are the fact that you don't have to fly them to fly them. What is the point of learning to fly a plane when you could actually trim the thing straight and level and read War and Peace before requiring any input. No fuel management, wings level, or turn coordination. The 152/172 can skid, slip, and pillow it's way through the air with all the skill of sleeping being all the pilot needs.

The 152/172 floats like a lighter than air ship. Whe you need to put the damn thing down in a hurry, kick rudder, hold wing, and slip like a brick. If you don't you can write War and Peace while on final.

Now fly a Cherokee Arrow, Six, Aztec, or Comanche and then you are flying an airplane. Kill power and down, down you go! I can go in and out of larger airports doing 140kts on final in front of some heavy stuff and still make the first turn-off. The only big worry is shock cooling.

IMHO the Cesna trainer platform makes dangerous pilots. How much skill is involved on ILS approaches, holding, intercepting a localizer, or stall recovery when you are in something that needs such little management? The first time a 152 pilot finds himself in a Bonanza or Malibu, they find religion. If they ignore religion, they meet the originator.

The 172 has those stupid tubes for airflow. More like drive-up teller vacuum tubes. The other thing that makes the Cesna trainer dangerous is the fact that the level of seating puts you up so high, away from a proper panel scan pattern. Most all real airplanes put your visual range horizontal with the instrumentation, not the frigging blue sky. Doing an NDB in a high wing Cesna has you looking at your feet.The 210 becomes the first exception with Cesna. Even at that, the whole line is too lofty. Even the Citation Jet is way to lifty and underpowered. The CJ is the Fischer Price of jets. If you put the slightest back pressure on the thing, up you go. A go around is in order which is very humbling in a jet. A lear on the other hand likes to come down like a knife and has enough thrust to make you feel like a man.

But that's just my unbiased opinion.....I bet you the guy jumped out of the 152 thinking it was cruel and unusual punishment to be cramped into a crawling 2'X 2' cage.