Found the airplane that I learned to fly in

[Lakewood90712]

1969 Cessna 150 Aerobat . It was about 10 years old when I flew it at the flight school, good mechanical shape , and plenty of duct tape on the seats then.

Found it in sad shape a few years ago : https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000894724.html .

Then came across it recently, completely restored, better than when I was flying it : https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001558315.html

It has had about a dozen owners. The current owner seems to be the best one ever.

 

[Bamaman]

It's nice that another aging airplane has found another life.

I learned to fly in a Piper Tomahawk in 1979, and I have no idea where that fine little plane is today.

My cousin flew in Vietnam in 1970-71, and one of his Huey helicopters is located at our local airport where it last flew for TVA--the gov't. power company. His main combat helicopter is the Huey displayed in the Boeing Museum in Seattle. But of course all the bullet holes have been repaired.

 

[ERD50]

That's pretty cool!

I don't know much about aircraft, is that "Registration Number: N8398M" a "lifetime" assignment? Is that how you know it's the same one?

-ERD50

 

[Bamaman]

That's pretty cool!

I don't know much about aircraft, is that "Registration Number: N8398M" a "lifetime" assignment? Is that how you know it's the same one?
-ERD50

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N8398M

 

[stepford]

I learned 40+ years ago in a pair of C-150s, one of which is apparently still flying somewhere in Illinois and one of which has vanished into that great hangar in the sky.

 

[Walt34]

I learned on several of three Piper J-3 Cubs (really!) but good luck finding a chance like that now. But I'll always remember the number on the one I soloed in (1432V). Some guy in Virginia Beach owns it now.

https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberInquiry

 

[SecondCor521]

I used to fly this Cessna 182 RG:

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N2198S

Apparently she's in Texas now.

 

[Lakewood90712]

That's pretty cool!

I don't know much about aircraft, is that "Registration Number: N8398M" a "lifetime" assignment? Is that how you know it's the same one?

-ERD50

I am sure on this one. The " Aerobat " aerobatic version of the 150 was rare, less than 5 % of production , with unique paint scheme , although this has been repainted. The sister to this one " N5910J " I also flew , has disappeared. N5910J had a tendency for the left door to pop open in flight. A little exciting first time I experienced it , just after take off.

Most of the time the registration stays with the aircraft. Sometimes a new owner will request a change to a different registration of a specific one if available, or a new randomly assigned. The airlines often change the " N " number AKA ' Tail number " of an aircraft that is damaged and repaired.

 

[street]

Interesting thread. That would be pretty cool finding or knowing where one of these planes are today that you had history with.

Like finding an old lost friend. Very Nice!!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Sometimes you discover something you don't want to. I sold my [-]mistress[/-] plane (a little Piper Cherokee) back in 2014'ish to someone in NC. It was a nice little airplane and I had taken pretty good care of it. Well, low and behold when I went to do a search I found that it had been crashed and destroyed a couple of years ago. Even though the plane caught fire upon impact, all the passengers survived. My Dad also owned a Stinson for many, many years and the last I saw, it was rotting out in a field in Texas. I wish they all had happy endings.

 

[Sunset]

1969 Cessna 150 Aerobat . It was about 10 years old when I flew it at the flight school, good mechanical shape , and plenty of duct tape on the seats then.

Found it in sad shape a few years ago : https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000894724.html .

Then came across it recently, completely restored, better than when I was flying it : https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001558315.html

It has had about a dozen owners. The current owner seems to be the best one ever.

That is interesting.. however, at 52 yrs old it's pretty old in my mind.

I have no idea about planes, except I know they are expensive, and I'd be nervous in one that old, unlike a really old car, it's impossible to pull over to the side of the road when it suddenly fails.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

That is interesting.. however, at 52 yrs old it's pretty old in my mind.

I have no idea about planes, except I know they are expensive, and I'd be nervous in one that old, unlike a really old car, it's impossible to pull over to the side of the road when it suddenly fails.

Unlike an old car, "old" airplanes have to be regularly inspected by someone who is licensed to do the inspection. There are LOTS of little airplanes (and a LOT of big ones too) that are 50+ years old and are still plenty safe to cruise around in...and in my opinion, still safer than cruising the streets in a brand new 2022 Volvo.

 

[Crabby Mike]

1969 Cessna 150 Aerobat . It was about 10 years old when I flew it at the flight school, good mechanical shape , and plenty of duct tape on the seats then.



Found it in sad shape a few years ago : https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000894724.html .



Then came across it recently, completely restored, better than when I was flying it : https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001558315.html



It has had about a dozen owners. The current owner seems to be the best one ever.

Great thread! I hadn't thought to check before, but dug out my old logbook and used the link. All the 152s I trained in (in 1979) are "deregistered," but the 150 Aerobat we took up to play in one day is still in use, in Corvallis OR.

 

[Walt34]

I have no idea about planes, except I know they are expensive, and I'd be nervous in one that old, unlike a really old car, it's impossible to pull over to the side of the road when it suddenly fails.

Unlike old cars, old airplanes can last a very long time and as long as they're maintained light civilian airplanes don't have that many moving parts. The shape is what makes it fly; the major maintenance items are the engine(s) and landing gear because they have the most moving parts. Most of the rest of the maintenance/inspection is looking for corrosion and lubrication of what does move.

A shining example is the Boeing B-52 bomber, designed in the 1950's and still flying!

 

[braumeister]

The ones still flying have been extensively modified over the years, but are still older than the pilots flying them.

Air Force just resurrected a 60-year-old B-52 bomber named ‘Wise Guy’ from its boneyard to fight another day