AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2015 - 42

PILOT BRIEFING

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AOPA sweeps airplane is now home

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AOPA 2015 YOU CAN FLY SWEEPSTAKES

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It's been a year of flying excitement
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N

THE AOPA 2015 Sweepstakes
"Reimagined" Cessna 152 has
returned to the association's
headquarters in Frederick,
Maryland, and it's ready for delivery to its winner early next year.
During an eventful year, the
1978 trainer remanufactured by
the craftsmen at Aviat Aircraft
flew from the mid-Atlantic to
Florida, California, Wisconsin,
and back. It was displayed at
EAA AirVenture and AOPA FlyIns in four U.S. time zones. It's
crossed the Continental Divide
several times and logged more
than 200 flight hours.
Most important, it has
proven the viability of refurbished trainers as tough,
reliable, attractive, and economical alternatives to new
aircraft for flying clubs and
flight schools. Companies such

42 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

as Premier Aircraft, Redbird,
Sporty's, and Yingling Aviation
have started their own Cessna
Skyhawk refurbishment and
diesel conversion programs
driven by the same economics.
AOPA President Mark Baker,
who learned to fly in a Cessna
150 and bought a 10-year-old
model as his first aircraft in 1979,
said the trainer fleet has plenty
of life left in it. "Cessna 150s and
152s are the best trainers that
have ever been built," he said.
"They're the Piper J-3 Cubs of
our generation-and their time
has come, again."
N152UC had logged about
6,200 airframe hours when
AOPA purchased it in early 2014
and flew it to Afton, Wyoming,
for restoration. There, it was
disassembled; the Lycoming
O-235 engine was overhauled;

and the airframe was painstakingly rebuilt using all-new
pulleys, cables, wiring, and
hardware. A new interior was
installed, all the windows were
replaced, and the instrument
panel was rebuilt.
It also has modern improvements such as a Garmin GTR
225 radio, an aera 560 touchscreen GPS, and a GDL 39
ADS-B receiver. It will go to its
winner with two new Bose A20
headsets and a subscription to
Jeppesen Mobile VFR, a flight
planning and navigation app.
I f e r r i e d N 1 5 2 UC t o
Maryland from the AOPA
Fly-In in Anoka, Minnesota, and
the combination of a delightfully responsive airplane and
a tailwind made the 900-nm

trip easily doable in a day.
Thunderstorms in southern
Wisconsin and northern Illinois
made a direct route impossible,
but the situational awareness
provided by in-cockpit weather
allowed an end run through
central Illinois and Indiana.
After a fuel stop in Ohio, a climb
to 9,500 feet led to a smooth trip
across the Appalachians and
into western Maryland.
Pilots who see N152UC can't
help noticing its bright yellow
paint, and it's meant to stand
out. Baker says he wants it to be
a "conversation starter" for aviation enthusiasts everywhere.
Mark Evans, an AOPA pilot
and active flight instructor, has
taken many people flying in
N152UC-from rusty pilots who
haven't flown in years to flight
instructor candidates seeking
spin endorsements. "It's a really
honest airplane and a reliable
performer that really gives a
good, warm feeling about the
act of going flying," Evans said.
"This is much more than just
another airplane. This one's
special because it does something few others can do. It
can go out there day after day
and produce good pilots, and
that's something aviation needs
right now."
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.

org

AOPA MEMBERS are automatically entered to win the 2015

You Can Fly Sweepstakes. Members on Automatic Annual
Renewal receive additional entries (www.aopa.org/sweepstakes).
http://www.aopa.org/sweep
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2015
