Aircraft model
CESSNA 150C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1963 model year of the 150, and the year the gross weight rose to 1,600 lb. That gives it one of the best useful loads in the family — around 620 lb, meaning two adults, full fuel and some luggage, which the heavier late-1970s aircraft cannot manage.
For a two-seat aeroplane bought to fly cheaply, the early-1600 lb years are the ones to look for. The 100 hp Continental is simple and inexpensive to run. The limits remain: slow, cramped, short-legged and unenthusiastic in the climb on a hot day. Check the nose gear and firewall, which absorbed decades of student landings, and the belly and wing spar for corrosion.
Compare with…
Put CESSNA 150C side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 150C
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental O-200-A |
| Horsepower | 100 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1963 |
| Production end | 1963 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 102 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 350 nm |
| Service ceiling | 15,300 ft |
| Climb rate | 670 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 42 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,385 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,075 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 620 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 485 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,600 lb |
| Empty weight | 980 lb |
| Usable fuel | 22.5 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 5.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $24,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $45,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $24,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $34,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 351 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 166 |
| Median year built | 1963.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 18.071 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 18.072 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 40 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 24.13 |
| Airworthiness directives | 4 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 166 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 166 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 166 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 5.8 of 103 |
| Support | 7.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 6.8 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.