Conversion from PA28 to Cessna 152
 

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of converting from PA28 warrior (over 80 hours) to Cessna 152 due to cost savings on hour building.

Has anyone done that, and is it much different to get used to?

Also how long is the differential training? I'm thinking of joining Omega aviation at Shoreham - Sussex, if anyone flies with them is there any good feedback and things to watch out for?

Thanks

30 minutes in the cct should do it. Any more than that and I would suspect they are taking the p*** out of your wallet. It's going to be lighter on the controls (before the Pitts guys chip in I obviously mean relatively speaking) but not that much so. The xwind limits are less, 12kts for the 152 although it will do more. It's a little twitchier to keep straight on the deck in a gusty xwind. All of the stuff really you would expect from a lighter a/c.

Other than that there's not much difference at all. I jump from one to the other and can't say I really notice.

I agree, one flight should be enough. Ground effect is more noticeable in low-wing aircraft. Actually I think it would be sufficient to sit in the airplane and go through the checklist several times and touching all controls so you know where to find them. To me, a transition to another plane is more about the panel layout than about the airplane (as long as we're talking about PA28, C152...). Anyhow, I appreciate to fly from time to time with an instructor/"rated" pilot.

An SEP is an SEP is an SEP...

Is the lack of a fuel pump the only difference?


They are both electrical flaps if I remember correctly.

Mechanical flaps on the 28. No fuel pump on 152, gravity fed. I should say no electric fuel pump.

Just thought of the main difference, it doesn't need a clogful of rudder in the climb. The engine is only like a couple of rubber bands so no or hardly any rudder required. That one still catches me out as I usually just climb with my right foot out automatically, then wonder why I'm flying sideways in the 152.

hi mattari

After you are through flying the C152 you will say: gee, maybe a few bucks more is not so bad for the warrior.

Let's look at the turn from base to final (is that what you call it over there?)

You drop the wing in the warrior and you see more and more of the airport runway. You drop the wing in the C152 and you see less and less.

Some of your current scanning patterns for traffic will be way off as you really can't see so well in the C152 as the wing is in the way for the climb.

no electrical fuel pump. fine. but if the plane cracks up, the gas is on top of you.

OH, and get use to that lawnmower style throttle, carb heat and mixture.

It will be less comfortable and you may bump your head on the wing or wing struts. Oh, and don't slip when you climb on the strut to look in the gas tanks.

The reason you are switching is money. The best thing you can say about the C152 is that its cheaper. Like saying I'll take girl "A" out because she is a cheaper date than girl "B".

hmmmm

and yes, some will disagree with me and good luck to you all.

Glen, the best aircraft is the one that you're flying at the time...:).

There's a reason a 152 is cheaper PA 28 is an aeroplane, no-one knows what a 152 is :E

Mattari

Make sure that you ask the instructor to show you the C150/152 stall in the approach configuration (20 flap/1,500 RPM), then come back and tell us if you think '30 mins in the circuit' is enough :eek:

MJ:ok:

I was waiting for the horror stories to start...:rolleyes:. Actually Matt the 152 is a known killer, best avoided if you are incapable of flying it within it's flight envelope. In fact avoid flying any a/c if you're incapable of flying it properly.

Most instructors will have never done a fully developed stall in that configuration why would they give it to a student converting?

Its recover on the stall warner in that configuration. Which is a piece of piss.

MJ, I've done the deadly stall configuration at low revs etc etc. It flicks. It flicks no more than 90 degrees on a bad day with a 't' in it. Recovery is instant and if you unintentionaly get to the point where it flicks then you have to question whether you should be flying in the first place.

MJ-It might be on SEP test but think any decent checkout would cover various types of full stall. I particularly cover full flap goaround from a trimmed glide approach, recover at stall warner. Which i think should be a test item.

M_J. Are you really telling me that, for training purposes, fully developed stalls are only to be carried out wings level, power off, clean? :ooh:

Thing. Not a horror story, :rolleyes: just a significant difference between the PA28 and the C150/152.

But surely you wouldn't do a go round with full flap? I'm not an instructor so am interested to hear why you would do that.

If you are in the final stages of the approach, with full flap, and someone taxys onto the runway in front of you, I don't know what else you can do. I'm hoping that you practised these during your training.

Well in a 152 you would select full power, 10 degrees and pitch for 54 kts. Why would you go around with full flap?

That sounds like a reasonable go around with full flap to me.

I think you've misunderstood BEB's suggestion. He means a simulated 'go around' with full flap, where the pilot forgets to retract the flap and tries to climb. (At a safe height of course, not during a real 'go around')

you lot are inventing stuff that's not required.

All your doing is making PPL's not want to go anywhere near schools or instructors.

And yes that's all that's required because prevention of getting into the stall attitude is better than and safer than the cure.

Shock horror I have gone flying solo in 3 types without a check out at all. Just read the POH and fired the engine up and then flew the length of Britain without stalling then picked up another aircraft and flew back again managing against all odds not to stall again.

Absoutley nothing will happen stall wise if the pilot has been trained to attitude fly and sets the normal climb attitude of 10 degrees. They won't climb mind but that should then give them a hint that they haven't put the flaps away.