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The cost of a plane is usually proportional to the size of
the aircraft. There are, of course, other factors. These include the technology
in the plane and the aircraft's age. But when the planes have all the same
features and are all the same age, size matters.
When I learned to fly, I was trying to save money. So I
chose one of the smaller planes in the lot - the Cessna 152. This aircraft is actually
the smallest of its type, until you get into a different class of planes called
Light-Sport.
Don't Overload the
Plane
Renting a plane with four seats doesn't necessarily mean that
you can fly four people. So think twice if you plan to haul four, 300-pound
men. Fortunately, there's a chart you need to fill out called a weight and
balance sheet. It determines exactly how much the plane can hold.
If the aircraft can't hold everyone, some unlucky passenger
will have to drive instead! If that's not an option, you'll need to drain the
fuel tanks a bit. Remember, however, that if
you're traveling a long distance,
you'll have to refuel more often.
If you overload the plane, there's a chance it might not
even get off the runway. There's also a chance it may have trouble climbing,
have a tendency to stall or not recover from a stall, or exhibit overall poor
performance. There are also a bunch of other bad scenarios.
When you rent a plane, remember the size of the person. Because
I'm under 5 ft. tall and weigh around 100 lbs. (more or less), I have no
problem fitting into smaller planes. My instructor, however, was a tad bit
bigger than me. This made those hot summer flights interesting, to say the
least. We were pretty much packed on top of each other.
Cessna Aircraft
In retrospect, renting the larger Cessna 172 (the next size
up) would have probably been a lot nicer, a lot roomier, and a lot more
enjoyable when I was learning to fly.
Pilots say that you always go back to the plane you trained
on. From experience, I can say that's true.
I logged over 100 hours in that old Cessna 152. Even after getting
my license and flying the 172, I still enjoy taking the 152 up for a spin. The
152 may be older, smaller, and basically falling apart, but it's still my
favorite. I'm so used to it now that I could fly it in my sleep. I could write
a book about all of the things that went wrong with that old 152, but to me it's
still the best plane on the lot.
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