Cessna 152 in Actual Flying School Use, Or No Fuel like an Old Fuel
By: Norm Goyer
The Cessna 150 had the very popular Continental O-200, 100-hp engine.
One of my companies owned a small fleet of new Cessna 152s we used in our Cessna Flying School course at Apple Valley Airport. This Southern California facility had an elevation of 3000 feet. At that time, we had one 6500 X 150 foot runway which was basically north and south. At the southern end, the elevation was 2950, at the north end it was 3050, a rise of 100 feet. Prevailing wind blew from 220 degrees which gave pilots a constant cross-wind factor. Winter-time morning temperatures ranged from 20F degrees to 40F degrees, in other words; cold. Our fuel farm was owned and serviced by Texaco. Just before the 152 was released, Texaco dropped their 80 octane fuel and substituted 100 LL. (We also supplied Texaco Jet fuel to our turbine customers.)
The new 100 LL fuel had a blue coloring so the pilot could visually check the type of fuel in his tanks.
The new 100LL produced a tremendous problem for the new Lycoming O-235 engines in our Cessna 152s. It seems that Lycoming had not thoroughly tested this series of the O-235 with the new 100 LL. First, the engines would not start. They would grind away without firing; the 28 volt batteries did not have the staying power of the 12 volt systems. If you cranked it too long, the battery died. Globules of lead would attach to the electrodes of the plug, grounding it out. Our chief mechanic worked out a system for shutting down the engines by pulling the mixture, thus evacuating the remaining fuel to minimize any raw gas in the heads. When an engine simply would not start, we had to remove the spark plugs, put rebuilt ones in and then, hopefully, it would start. We would send 50 to 100 spark plugs at a time to a rebuilder in Van Nuys who would send us back rebuilt plugs. The average life of a spark plug was 25 hours. For some reason; it might have been the compression ratio; the 150, 180 and 200 hp Lycomings in our large fleet of Piper and Cessna aircraft did not have a problem. I ran the 100 LL in the 600 hp Pratt & Whitney engine of my SNJ-6 with no problems. The 200 hp Lycomings in our Arrows and Senecas never missed a beat, but those 110 hp Lycomings did not run well at all. Our chief flight instructor insisted that the Cessna 150 was, by far, the better airplane. He insisted the old 150 plane flew better; he loved the 40 degree flap extension, and of course, the Continental O-200 would run with any type of fuel.
The Lycoming O-235, 110 hp engine, installed in the C-152, had the valve push rods on top of the engine.
Many of our over 200 tie-down customers flew older aircraft with 80 octane fuel- burning engines. We almost had a revolution on our hands with their constant complaints, Not one even owned a Cessna 152 and the 100 LL ran perfectly well in their aircraft, but still they constantly complained. Texaco turned a deaf ear to our demands to resurrect 80 octane fuel.
The Continental O-200 in the earlier 150 was an upgrade on the C-65 to C-90 series of four-bangers installed in thousands of aircraft; in fact, it is still being used in large numbers by homebuilders. It is a very reliable and economical engine, but in 1958, Cessna owned Lycoming. The Lycoming O-235 LL engine was a questionable upgrade on the earlier excellent Lycoming O-235 used in many other aircraft.
Our FBO serviced all aircraft with two Texaco fuel trucks, one for 100 LL, the other for jet fuel.
We also found out the Cessna 152 did not make a good seaplane; you had to install a Lycoming 150 hp engine to get acceptable performance on floats. A Texas company also produced a kit to turn a 152 into a tail dragger. This conversion also specified a Lycoming 150 hp engine. This STC could also be used on a Cessna 150 which resulted in the quite popular Cessna 150-150. Cessna had a winner with its 150, but were not so lucky with the Cessna 152. Yet, this airplane retains its immense popularity. Other fuel suppliers did not eliminate their 80 octane fuel.
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September 12th, 2009 at 12:47 am
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