More Fun In A 172

Today I headed back to the Nashville Flight Training school at Nashville International Airport (BNA) to with fly with CFI, Von Gains. This time we flew a 1974 Cessna 172M (5146R). This aircraft is the oldest plane I have ever had the opportunity to fly, yet the age of the aircraft is quite normal in general aviation. It is very common to see aircraft after aircraft built in the 60s and 70s take off at class D & E (small airports) airports.

This can sound unsafe when we think about how often a 7-10 year old car breaks down. It then becomes scary to think about flying in a 40 year old plane. Yet, aircraft usage is not measured in years, it is measured in hours. While a standard family care can be on the road 80 to 1,200 hours annually, a general aviation aircraft may be operating just a couple of hundred a year. In addition, most people drive their cars in all type of weather conditions (which can be hard on the vehicle), yet most private pilots only fly when the weather is ideal. Think about how often you neighbor’s motorcycle or vintage automobile gets driven, very similar.

Also, each airworthy aircraft are required to have an extensive annual inspection and maintenance, plus maintenance at every 100 hours of use. In addition, the pilot completes a detailed inspection of the plane before each flight. Most automobile drivers feel an oil change every couple of months is sufficient.

The biggest change I noticed with flying this aircraft over the prior (new) Cessna 172 I flew, was that it had a carburetor. All other planes I have been flying have been fuel injected, so no carburetor. The potential of carburetor icing (even in warm weather) is present, which may lead to engine failure. This is easily overcome with introducing carburetor heat.

Of course the potential for the most problems from an engine failure is during landing. Thus as a precaution, the pilot will engage carburetor heat as part of the landing procedure. It is just one lever to pull, but is did add to the complexity a little in the landing, as I had easily forgotten it a couple of times.

Since the clouds were low, we flew to John C. Tune Airport and stayed in the traffic pattern and practiced landings. The other item that made landing more complex was the flaps adjustments were more manual. I am use to flipping a switch and the flaps would automatically set to a specific angle. On this plane the pilot engages the flaps and has to verify when it reaches the desired angle.



Carb heat in blue, throttle in yellow, flaps in green, trim tab in orange circle

 The highlight of the flight was when we were returning to BNA, we were directed to land on runway 20C. This put us in a position to fly directly over my house. Not a life changing event, but a neat addition to the flight.

Flight Time: 1.3 hours
Cost: Plane rental - $149.50, Instructor Fee - $52.00