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certified aircraft database
Cessna Aircraft
history and gallery
C150
C150 A,B,C
C150 D,E,F,G
C150 H,J,K
C150 J float
C150 L
C150M, A 150M Aerobat
C152
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Cessna series C150 and C152 performance and specifications
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 Cessna Aircraft Company
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 aluminium fuselage and
fabric covered wings. This was followed by a
nearly identical model 140, with
aluminium 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 1957 the company decided there was a
market for a tri geared version of the Model
140. Following their standard tailwheel/tricycle
naming convention, Cessna named the new
airplane the Cessna 142. Six days later, for
reasons now unknown, it was renamed it
the Cessna 150. A total of 683 C150's were
built between 1957 and 1959, all were sold
as 1959 models.
In 1966 Cessna restyled
the airplane, adding a jaunty slant to the
tail. The new style was enormously popular
with pilots. Cessna made and sold 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 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 newer High
Lead 100LL octane 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. Because of product liability
exposure, like most other light plane
companies in the US, Cessna stopped building
light aircraft all together in the mid
1980's. The last Model 152 rolled off the
production line in 1985.
Total Number of Cessna 150's Manufactured:
23,948
Total
Number of Cessna 152's Manufactured:
7,585
Known
Number of Cessna 150-152's Currently
Registered in North America:
19,877
Known
Number of Cessna 150-152's Currently
Registered Elsewhere:
2,869*
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