On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:22:52 -0700 (PDT), Charles Talleyrand
wrote:

My kid and I just washed the plane. Even after washing it, there are
still chips of paint missing, a bit of rust, a drip-stain of fuel, and
so on. The panel looks like it has been modified every once in a
while since 1966. My plane is relatively nice compared to the other
ones on the field, but it's still in worse cosmetic condition than my
car.

None of these problems is a safety issue, and none of them could be
fixed without spending significant time and/or money.

One of the reasons we own airplanes is pride of ownership.

This makes me sad. Makes me want to sell and rent.

I've looked at this post for a few nights now and I still have the
feeling that you're such a goose. you have an absolute gem in your
hands and cant see it.

you own what is probably the nicest little sporting aircraft ever
commercially built. they were such a superb handling aircraft that
they were used as trainers all over the world.

in fact *nothing* has been built since that has quite filled the
training niche they carved out for themselves. If Cessna put the
aerobat back into production tomorrow they would sell every aircraft
made without problem as the worlds training fleets were updated.
but they are plonkers and worry too much about liability so it is
passing from the worlds' stage.

You have a superb vintage aircraft and yours should be treated as
such. if you want true pride of ownership then set about restoring the
old girl to concourse condition. what this means in reality is easy.
get the aircraft professionally repainted, this involves removing all
the old finish, alodining the surface to passivate it,then repainting
the aircraft with proper aircraft paints.
the interior panels are from heat formable "Royalite" and can be
repaired, and I'm sure replaced. seats recovered in lambswool look and
feel a million bucks. new aircraft carpet (non flamable) isnt hard to
put in.

My mate Fred has an old Cessna 150A. it used to look absolute crap in
one of the most corroded bare aluminium finishes imaginable. he had it
professionally painted white. he thought that looked a bit plain and
costed a stripe. $500 bucks for a single thin red stripe is a bit much
so we kid people that it has a two tone white stripe :-)
like you he thought the aircraft was a bit underwhelming until I
pointed out a few things to him. I pointed out that his was the only
straight airframe I'd ever encountered. it had no trim tabs and had no
need for them. he keeps telling me that he has not encountered another
Cessna locally that doesnt need trim tabs.
I did the prop rpm vs speed calcs and found that his aircraft had to
have something wrong. the aircraft is supposed to have a 52" pitch
prop, the calcs came out at 46". It turns out that the previous owner
was compensating for an increasingly anaemic end of life engine by
repitching the prop down. with that corrected the aircraft is a
sprightly cruiser.
Freddo now loves his aircraft and sees it as a rare vintage beauty. I
do too.
I still love flying it on the odd occasion that we get together.

Go out one nice day and park your aircraft on the grass. lie under the
aircraft on the grass. lie there just looking over(under) the
aircraft. lie there for about an hour. (dont go to sleep)
in each 15 minute period the things you notice will be different from
the previous 15 minutes. in an hour you will have pretty well every
thing identified that isnt quite right.
then set about over the next few years and fix them one by one.
you'll end up with a classic restored aeroplane that you can be damn
proud of. ...or maybe you'll sell it and the next owner will have all
the pleasure.

what ever you do dont sit there complaining. aviation is only really
enjoyed by enthusiasts and a really good Cessna 150 *is* something to
be enthused over. The Continental O-200 engine in it is one of the
sweetest aircraft engines ever made.
you have an absolute gem there in your hands and you cant see it!!!!

mate you're looking like a goose. :-)

hell if you're that much of a whinger I'll give you $3000 for it and
ship it back to australia to fly it myself.

Stealth (wouldnt mind a cessna 150 to restore) Pilot