Letters: December 2011

One thing not emphasized in the article in the Cessna 150 is that the non-aerobatic 150 is a great little spin machine. The straight-tail models in particular are wonderful. William Kershner’s book describes how an extended spin will get going faster, then slower, then faster in a cycle. Climb up to 10,000 feet and you can demonstrate this for yourself. Given how long it takes to get that high, it’s not something you’ll do more than a couple of times, but it’s certainly educational. The straight tails will recover from the spin more or less on their own—I never quite had the nerve to let go of the controls and see if it’s completely true. But that doesn’t seem to be as true of the swept tails.