My brother and I picked up a 1961 Cessna 150 taildragger project a couple of months ago. It has the lycon tailwheel conversion with current registration and all the work signed off. The project is just the Fuselage, tailfeathers, cowling, and struts.
We need wings and firewall fwd. We were going to dissassemble our flying 1966 150 to use the needed parts to build our taildragger but, I enjoy flying the 66 so much we have decided not to canibalize it and keep it flying
I have come across all the parts locally to build it stock, But I had read some where that there was a banner tow guy that put 172 wings on a 150. This sounds like something I would like to do if there is an stc.
We are also thinking about a 150 hp conversion and again we have very little experience ( less than an hour in a 1964 150/150)
We are just in the parts collecting stage now, work won't progress for a while, we have an ultralight we need to finish first.
We want to build an inexpensive, hot rod, beater for running around the neighborhood. Big tires are part of the plan also, and again we have no idea what size tires are stc'ed on a 150. Field approvals are hard to come by in our area so sticking to stc's.

If you put 172 wings on a 150, you will suffer from the same problem I had in high school... not getting enough tail.

Measure the area of the horizontal tail on the 150 and 172. They may or may not be close, equal, etc.

Measure the distance (on both airplanes) from the CG to the horizontal tail spar or elevator hinge line (discussion purposes, "real" aero engineers don't hang me by the yardarm).

Take the 150's tail area (square feet, square inches, acres, whatever), and multiply it by the distance from the CG to the tail spar (feet, meters, leagues, whatever), and come up with a number, and forget about the units for this discussion.

This number we will call "tail volume". It's just a number for comparison purposes, as far as this discussion goes.

Using the exact same square feet, acres, leagues, millimeters, etc. as you did on the 150, come up with the "tail volume" numerical value for the 172.

We already know the airfoil, camber, etc. on all Cessna 100's is the same, so that won't affect this principle in this specific case.

If the 172's number is any higher than the 150's number, then you cannot safely swap the wings out between the two airplanes without making some other big change (like a larger tail) to compensate.

EZFlap wrote:If you put 172 wings on a 150, you will suffer from the same problem I had in high school... not getting enough tail.

Measure the area of the horizontal tail on the 150 and 172. They may or may not be close, equal, etc.

Measure the distance (on both airplanes) from the CG to the horizontal tail spar or elevator hinge line (discussion purposes, "real" aero engineers don't hang me by the yardarm).

Take the 150's tail area (square feet, square inches, acres, whatever), and multiply it by the distance from the CG to the tail spar (feet, meters, leagues, whatever), and come up with a number, and forget about the units for this discussion.

This number we will call "tail volume". It's just a number for comparison purposes, as far as this discussion goes.

Using the exact same square feet, acres, leagues, millimeters, etc. as you did on the 150, come up with the "tail volume" numerical value for the 172.

We already know the airfoil, camber, etc. on all Cessna 100's is the same, so that won't affect this principle in this specific case.

If the 172's number is any higher than the 150's number, then you cannot safely swap the wings out between the two airplanes without making some other big change (like a larger tail) to compensate.

What about adding wing extensions on a Cessna 170/172/180/182/185/206. Non of those STCs require anything to be done to the tail. The Wing-X kit adds 12sqft of wing and when combined with Sportsman STOL it's closer to 20sqft. The 150 wing has 157sqft and a 172 has 174sqft for a difference of 17sqft. I think it would still work if you could figure out how to swap the wings. There was also a video on here a while back with a 150 in Canada I believe with wing extensions, probably Wing-X, even though they aren't STC'd for that airplane.

The guy who supposedly has an stc for 172 wings on a 150 is Jimmy Butler. I think I read it on a forum on here. Anybody know him or have contact info for him.

EZ, I have a 182 in my shop right now with wing tip extensions and sportsman stol kit. the wing area is huge. I don't plan on being a test pilot, if there is an stc I am interested. I aint gonna be the guy who figures it out, but I would listen to an stc holder or person who is flying one.

cliff wrote:The guy who supposedly has an stc for 172 wings on a 150 is Jimmy Butler. I think I read it on a forum on here. Anybody know him or have contact info for him.

Search the FAA database, there's a James Butler in Texas with a 150.... Maybe him?

Ya just might have to learn how to use your feet!!

Jimmy Butler. I would hazard a guess that is the Jimmy Butler of banner tow fame.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sm ... story.html

There is a fellow in Coffee Creek Montana that has a straight back straight tail 150 tail dragger with 172 wings on it.
One wing is std range and the other is LR , one wing is red and the other is green and the fuselage is blue and white. The main gear is from a 180 with dual puck brakes and the wheels, tires and brakes are used sprint car stuff. He runs a steel block chevy v8 and his own redrive. The plane is registered experimental and fly's kick ass. Ron is a farmer and needs projects to do over the winter. This plane cost him $5200 to build. $200 over his planned budget.
From a technical standpoint 172 wings will work on a 150. From a certified legal point ?????