"AliR" wrote in message
. ..
Hi Everyone,

I just saw an ad for an IFR 1978 152 with 5230 total hours, 370 SMOH for
$30K.

Is that a good first plane? I am wondering how much insurance will run for
such an airplane (I am IFR with 230+ hours, working on Commercial ticket).

How much is the operational cost of a 152?

Overall, it is a good first plane. Five GPH is a reasonable number for
fuel consumption in the -15x series. But if you are going to include all the
ownership costs in figuring the operational cost per hour, too many
variables exist for me to help there. While the -152 might be a reasonable
IFR training platform, it might not be all that comfortable in the skag. For
example, with the relatively slower speed you'll thrash around in the
turbulence longer and the excursions may well be more dramatic. But you've
probably already figured that out.
If you are a member of AOPA, you can do an aircraft evaluation (VRef)
on the web site. That's a good place to find out the value. The more
information you have about the avionics, the more accurate will be the
valuation.