Cessna 152

The Cessna 152 is a two-seat, fixed-tricycle-gear, high-wing trainer produced from 1977 through 1985. It was a direct evolution of the long-running Cessna 150, updated chiefly to run on 100-octane low-lead fuel (which was replacing the older 80-octane avgas) and to gain a modest power increase.

The headline changes from the 150 were a switch to the Lycoming O-235 engine in place of the earlier Continental O-200, a slightly higher gross weight, and a coarser-pitch propeller for quieter, more efficient cruise. The result is an airplane that is inexpensive to buy and operate, sips fuel, and tolerates the heavy-handed inputs of a brand-new student — qualities that have kept thousands of 152s working as primary trainers decades after the last one was built.

Roughly 7,500 Cessna 152s were produced before the line ended in 1985 amid the same U.S. product-liability climate that paused Cessna's piston singles. Unlike the 172, the 152 was never returned to production, so every flying example is a used airframe — making engine time, corrosion history, and logbooks central to its value.

The 152 line is small and easy to keep straight:

• Cessna 152 (1977–1985): the standard two-seat trainer with the Lycoming O-235 and fixed-pitch propeller.
• Cessna 152 II: a factory equipment package (not a different airframe) that bundled additional avionics and trim — the configuration most flight schools bought.
• Cessna A152 Aerobat: a strengthened version certificated for limited aerobatics (spins, rolls, and similar maneuvers within published limits), identifiable by its skylight windows and four-point harnesses.

The 152 is also frequently compared with the airplane it replaced, the Cessna 150; the two share the same basic structure, and many of a student's first lessons transfer directly between them. The figures below describe the standard Lycoming-powered 152.