CESSNA150
Two seats, a high wing, a hundred unhurried horsepower. That's the whole airplane. It asks for very little and gives you room to learn everything, which is why most of us never quite get over ours.
The Aircraft
The Cessna 150 is one of the most-flown trainers ever built. Honest, forgiving and cheap to run, it taught generations of pilots to fly, and you'll still find them at flying clubs and flight schools worldwide.
The figures here come from Cessna's 1969 Owner's Manual for the Model 150J, whose FAA type certificate is 3A19.
Built from 1958 to 1977, then replaced by the Cessna 152, with roughly 24,000 made across every variant. Few trainers have ever been built in those numbers.
The Cessna 150 by the numbers, as published in the 1969 Owner's Manual for the ‘J’. Engine, weights, speeds, and the limits you actually fly by.
Speeds
Every speed that matters in the 150 lives on one dial, and the colored arcs do most of the thinking for you. White is where flaps are allowed, green is normal everyday flying, yellow is for smooth air only, and the red line is the speed you never cross. Learn the colors and you rarely need to remember the numbers.
The arcs match the 1969 Owner's Manual for the 150J, in calibrated airspeed. Hover over the dial below and each band will tell you what the airplane is doing at that speed.
Hover over the gauge to see what each speed means.
Flap operating range is the white arc (49–100 MPH). The yellow arc should be entered only in smooth air. Operations above the red line (162 MPH) are prohibited.
Bank the airplane and the wing has to make more lift just to hold altitude. That extra load raises the speed at which it stalls, and the steeper the turn, the higher that speed climbs. The values here are the POH stalling speeds for the 150J: power off, 1,600 lb, calibrated airspeed.
At 60° of bank you're pulling 2 G and the stall speed climbs about 41%. A steep turn down low is the worst place to find that out, so keep some margin.
Cockpit Controls
Here is the catch every student meets on a classic like this one: the fuel quantity gauges are not to be trusted in flight. Float-type senders in a 50-year-old wing drift, stick and bounce in turbulence, and by regulation they are only required to read accurately at one point: EMPTY. So pilots measure fuel directly: climb up, open the filler cap and read the level with a calibrated dipstick (a marked stick, the “pipeta”). Fill the tanks below and dip them yourself.
Grab the fuel nozzle and drag it onto a filler cap to pump, but the wing is sheet metal, so you cannot see how much actually went in. To know for sure, drag the dipstick into a tank and pull it back out: the wetted mark stays on the stick. Watch the gallon marks bunch near the top, where the tank is wider; exactly why a calibrated stick beats a float gauge.
The stick measures the fuel directly; the float gauge only estimates it, and on an airframe this age it estimates badly. When they disagree, believe the stick.
Pick a phase to see the fuel flow and how long the usable fuel currently on board would last at that rate.
On the first flight of the day and after every refuel, drain a sample from the fuel strainer and each tank sump (POH preflight). Avgas is dyed: clear or cloudy fuel, or beads settling at the bottom of the cup, means water in the tanks. Keep draining until it runs clean and bright.
Cruise and economy figures come from the POH cruise-performance chart; taxi, take-off/climb and descent are illustrative line estimates; actual burn depends on mixture, altitude and technique.
On the fixed-pitch McCauley 1A101 propeller there is no separate prop control, so throttle position maps almost directly to RPM. Drag the knob below: the tachometer needle follows and the placard names the régime you are flying.
Below 1,000 RPM, sustained operation here is not recommended. POH §2-13 sets the warm-up RPM at 1,000; lower than that the engine can run rough and prolonged low-RPM running fouls the spark plugs.
Maximum engine speed (red line) is 2750 RPM. The green arc shown here (2,000–2,550 RPM) is the sea-level normal range; per POH §3-3 it widens with altitude, up to 2,000–2,750 RPM at 10,000 ft. Treat full throttle as a takeoff / climb setting, not a cruise one.
What trim does: it doesn't change attitude, it removes the hand load on the yoke. Pick a scenario below, feel the force you would be holding without trim, then spin the wheel until it disappears.
Just after rotation. Full throttle, flaps up, climbing at 73 MPH.
Pitched up at low speed, the airplane wants to nose-down without back-pressure. Roll the wheel toward NOSE UP until the pull disappears.
The trim tab deflects opposite to the elevator — that's why a tab-up setting holds the elevator down (nose-down trim) and vice-versa.
Trim early and often. After any pitch or power change, re-trim — letting the airplane fly hands-off lets you scan instruments, read charts and configure for the next phase without fighting the yoke.
Flaps add camber and (above 20°) drag, lowering stall speed and steepening the descent path without adding airspeed. Hold the motor switch below to drive the flaps to any position between UP and 40°. The placard, airfoil cross-section and reference speeds all update with the current deflection.
Clean configuration. Used for cruise, normal climb and obstacle-clearance take-offs.
Normal and maximum-performance take-offs are flown with flaps up (POH §2-9). VX 64 / VY 73 / Best Glide 65 (all MPH IAS).
Click UP or DOWN to run the motor. Flaps stop only when you return the switch to OFF, just like the real airplane.
Clean configuration. Used for cruise, normal climb and obstacle-clearance take-offs.
Normal and maximum-performance take-offs are flown with flaps up (POH §2-9). VX 64 / VY 73 / Best Glide 65 (all MPH IAS).
Operation
Procedures and memory items taken from the Cessna 1969 Owner's Manual for the Model 150J. These are a reference, not a substitute for the official POH — always consult the aircraft manual before flight.
NORMAL TAKE-OFF
- 1.Wing Flaps — UP
- 2.Carburetor Heat — COLD
- 3.Throttle — FULL OPEN
- 4.Elevator Control — lift nose wheel at 50 MPH
- 5.Climb Speed — 73 MPH until obstacles cleared, then set up NORMAL CLIMB
MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE TAKE-OFF
- 1.Wing Flaps — UP
- 2.Carburetor Heat — COLD
- 3.Brakes — HOLD
- 4.Throttle — FULL OPEN
- 5.Brakes — RELEASE
- 6.Elevator Control — slightly tail low
- 7.Climb Speed — 64 MPH with obstacles ahead
NORMAL CLIMB
- 1.Airspeed — 75 MPH to 80 MPH
- 2.Power — FULL throttle
- 3.Mixture — RICH (unless engine is rough)
NORMAL LANDING
- 1.Mixture — RICH
- 2.Carb Heat — apply FULL HEAT before closing throttle
- 3.Airspeed — 65 MPH to 75 MPH (flaps up)
- 4.Wing Flaps — as desired below 100 MPH
- 5.Airspeed — 60 MPH to 70 MPH with flaps extended
- 6.Touchdown — MAIN WHEELS first
- 7.Landing Roll — lower nose wheel gently
- 8.Braking — minimum required
SHORT FIELD LANDING
- 1.Approach — POWER OFF at 58 MPH with flaps 40°
- 2.Touchdown — MAIN WHEELS first
- 3.Nose wheel — lower to ground; apply heavy braking
- 4.Flaps — RETRACT after all three wheels are on the ground
- 5.Elevator — hold FULL NOSE UP
- 6.Brakes — maximum without sliding the tires
GO-AROUND (BALKED LANDING)
- 1.Throttle — FULL OPEN
- 2.Wing Flaps — reduce to 20° immediately
- 3.Airspeed — establish safe climb attitude
- 4.Wing Flaps — slowly RETRACT to full up once safe
- 5.Carb Heat — COLD
These notes are provided for reference only. Always consult the current FAA-approved Owner's Manual / POH for the specific Cessna 150 you are flying and comply with all applicable regulations and your operator's standard operating procedures.