Pilot Briefing: AOPA 2015 You Can Fly Sweepstakes

It’s been a year of flying excitement

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 Fly-Ins 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 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 ferried N152UC to 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. Itcan go out there day after day and produce good pilots, and that’s something aviation needs right now.”

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AOPA Members are automatically entered to win the 2015 You Can Fly Sweepstakes. Members on Automatic Annual Renewal receive additional entries.