A friend asked for a comparison between the Cessna 140 and Luscombe 8E. Once again that got me to thinking about tail wheel aircraft and that there isn’t that much information on them out there. I love tail draggers! To me they are much more challenging to fly and also a lot more fun to fly. But that is probably related to my passion for antique and vintage aircraft in general. Luckily, I’ve had the chance to fly a number of them but have more to go than I’ve flown already and am always interested in reading about them even the fairly commonplace ones.
I own a 1946 Cessna 120 which I bought to fly when the weather turns colder in Napa Valley California. It’s so much fun to fly, requires so little prep to go fly and is so easy to move around, fuel and maintain generally speaking that I find that I love flying it all year around. It’s also very inexpensive. I paid $24,000 for mine a couple of years ago with 3722 TTAF and 1439 tach time on the motor. My plane came with a new interior and new Hooker shoulder harnesses and lap belts. I’ve added an ADSB transponder since then and had it professionally polished. So, let’s call it $30k all in with a high time C-85 engine that is still running strong with mid 70’s compressions. I hope that at 25 hours a year I can fly it all the way to TBO. That’s 14 years from now and I’ll be 80. If I’m still flying, I’ll be more than happy to pay for the overhaul. The exterior I’d rate an 8 because I’m picky and the interior a 7. I could repaint the yokes, replace the windscreen and paint the gear legs and add wheel pants and get it closer to 9’s in and out but it’ll never be a show plane so who cares? My point is it’s a LOT of fun for the money.
This is a post war airframe that was actually successful. Nearly 8,000 of the Cessna 120 and 140 models were made between 1946 and 1951 and about one third of that number are still flying. Then came the 150’s when Cessna gave in to demand and put the little wheel in the wrong place. They made so many of them, and so many survive, that they are fairly common, yet I hardly ever see one. People on the ramp always stop me to ask questions. They were built as trainers, and I have my father’s logbook from the 1950’s to prove it. They are still trainers, but they are mostly fun, messing around airplanes today.
They don’t go anywhere in a hurry which is part of the charm. In Dad’s logbook is a cross country flight from his student days from Oklahoma City to Dallas which is about 160 NM. It took just about 2 hours to go down and nearly 6 to get back! While the plane isn’t acrobatic, he did his spin training in it too.
The 120 is a simple airplane with basic VFR instrumentation. The radio stack on the left has room for a radio and transponder. I’ve seen IFR equipped 120’s and 140’s but, frankly, they look a little ridiculous. There’s an ashtray on the pilot’s side and the push to talk button is also on the panel between the two seats.
Speaking of ashtrays, once common in GA aircraft, I remember the Cessna 150 I did a lot of my private pilot training in back in the 1980’s when a lot more people smoked than do now. It was placarded on the panel with a little sign that read “If you must smoke step outside!” I always thought that was funny and still agree with its sentiments.
Getting in and out of the cockpit is really simple and easy. There are two hand holds on the top of the panel and my plane has little steps on the gear to assist. But even for the mobility challenged it’s an easy in and out. I have a “hat shelf” behind the seat which is useful for lightweight items. There is a luggage compartment behind the bench seat back which is large enough for a roller bag or medium sized duffel. It was designed for a time when those hard sided suitcases people used were pretty small and no one thought it necessary to bring an entire closet full of clothes for the weekend.
Once you’re in and settled the cockpit actually feels pretty comfortable. I’d even say it’s roomy for the solo pilot but with two bigger guys plan on rubbing shoulders. And don’t freak out if the doors pop open from being pushed on. They will. And even in steep turns centrifugal force will hold you in quite nicely – though the shoulder harness and seat belt do add some psychological comfort. There’s plenty of leg room even for those above 6 feet in height. Forward visibility is excellent and almost anyone over five feet tall can taxi without S turns. The view out the side windows isn’t quite as good if you’re tall. You’ll need to duck down a bit to see past the wingtip.
Oh, one other thing you’ll notice is that there are narrow sky lights just above the heads of both cockpit occupants. These are probably useful for looking through during a steep turn. But I never seem to remember…
Cabin ventilation is provided by the ubiquitous wing root cans that every Cessna seems to have. They didn’t work any better at staying closed in the 1940’s than they do now. Shoving them closed on a cold day is just a part of the experience, just as tweaking the trim is. The cabin does have heat which is nice for keeping your feet warm. And, if it’s warmer outside the windows do flap open at the bottom and you can take off and fly around with them open if you want.
So, let’s preflight this little baby and go fly! Preflight is straightforward and involves the typical things all the way around the plane. The engine compartment is easily seen and accessed with large cowl openings on both sides. You’ll need a Phillips screwdriver to open and close latches on both sides. Interestingly, Phillips screws were not invented until 1934 and were still not in wide use in the immediate post war period. But Cessna was changing with the times – Phillips screws and flat motors. No wonder they did so well!
Preflight done we can drag this little airplane out by hand. You don’t need a tug as it only weighs 917 pounds empty and even full of gas with 25 gallon tanks it’s still just 1067 pounds. I have a tow bar to pull it back into the hangar after flying but that’s just a luxury item I picked up used. Clamber aboard and strap in. With the door closed and window open pull out the push pull primer and with the mixture full rich give it 3-4 shots of prime. Primer in and locked, mixture rick, throttle cracked, master on and mags on you pull the starter. This is hard. It’s pretty stiff on my plane and sometimes takes two hands. But once pulled the engine fires easily. Then you can do the rest of the pre-taxi stuff like radio switch etc. There isn’t much to it.
When it’s time to taxi just a nudge on the throttle will get you moving. The throttle is impossible to miss visually or by feel. It’s a two-inch knob! The mixture is to the right of that and is color coded but otherwise an ordinary knob. Carb heat is in the middle. These were all made before knobs were made differently so you could tell which was which by feel. I recommend looking as pulling the carb heat out before the base turn can kill the engine if you aren’t careful!
As you’re trundling along the taxi way you’ll heard a bang occasionally from the rear of the airplane. It startled me the first time but it’s just oil canning as the solid tire of the tail wheel hits a crack. The brakes work well. Mine are upgraded discs which most planes do have today. They aren’t super powerful, but you’ll want to be careful, especially on landing if you don’t have the tail down. Oops! That happened a lot – so some genius came out with landing gear leg extenders which changed the CG and landing gear geometry to help prevent nose overs. They look funny and announce to the world you don’t know how to ride a bike yet – just like training wheels do. Just learn to fly the plane and you’ll be ok.
As you taxi, you’ll notice that the yoke and the rudder pedals seem toy like. Just like an Easy Bake Oven is a tiny version of the real thing, so are theses controls. And they take almost no effort to manipulate.
The run up is standard and nothing to it so make your call and swing onto the runway. Everyone’s different but I like to come to a complete stop after lining up before advancing the throttle. Yoke back, ailerons set correctly for the wind, slowly bring the power up and you accelerate pretty quickly. After a nano second or two ease the yoke forward and the tail comes up a bit and before you can do anything else you’re flying off at about 50 mph. Acceleration is leisurely but soon enough you’re climbing away and chasing 70 mph. Vx is about 65 and Vy is 73 but I like to climb at 80 mph. Put the top front of the cowl on the horizon and hold it there and that’s how fast you go. The climb rate is about 500 feet per minute. It doesn’t seem to make much difference what the temperature is or the airplane weight (By the weigh my useful load is 533 and gross weight is 1450 lbs.).
Cruise speed at about 2100 rpms is 100 mph or so. Tweak the power back and it’s 90. Mess with it all you want. You’re not going anywhere in a hurry. Because of its light weight you will bounce around a bit in anything but still air. The 120 stalls at 49 mph power off and 40 with the power on. It does steep turns all day with no effort and is fun for wing overs. You control the yoke by placing your left hand on the center of the yoke and twisting. If you use the outside of the yoke, you’ll likely over control.
Heading back to the airport to land 500 fpm descents are comfortable. You can pull the power and go down a bit faster without getting into the yellow arc but not much. Enter downwind at 80. You can comfortably go slower, but you’ll be there all day. Turning base between 80 and 70 is about right and you’ll have to have the power back to idle for that with carb heat on. Rounding the turn to final 70 is the perfect approach speed.
But, you may find you’re a bit high on final with all that. I often do. Well just reach for the Johnson bar to get some flaps in. Oops. No flaps! That’s right, this is a pilot’s airplane. Just slip it a bit until you get it right and cross the numbers at 70. The plane loves to wheel land and is dirt simple to 3 point. Pick your poison. But don’t swallow it by hitting the brakes! That’s asking for trouble and unnecessary. Brakes might help to get off the runway but sometimes aren’t needed even then. I’d recommend 1,500-foot runways for safety but you’ll be down and stopped in under 1,000 if you didn’t fly too fast on approach.
There is a lot of support for this plane. Univair makes new parts! You can practically build one from scratch. The Cessna 120-140 Association is a good owners club with excellent website at https://cessna120140.com. There’s lots of buyer’s advice, newsletter, and annual fly in. Oh, you noticed the group includes 140’s too? Well, if you like modern airplanes that are all metal or have flaps a 140 might be for you. They have quarter panel windows too (though some people have added them to their 120’s confusing the issue). Really, except for the flaps 140’s fly about like 120’s. They’re a tad heavier though, of course. And, if you like polished examples like mine they’re a lot more work!
So, who is a good prospect for a 120 or 140? First, someone who doesn’t want to invest a lot of money in a fun airplane. You can’t spend more than about $70k and usually far less. They only burn about 4 gph full rich. Secondly, they are for a pilot who loves to FLY and not necessarily go somewhere. They are for people who want to improve stick and rudder skills (there is enough adverse yaw to challenge, no flaps, tailwheel, and low power). They are also for people who appreciate the beauty of classic airplane lines. If the 120 isn’t big enough for you get a 170. They look practically identical and fly similarly though the 170 costs more to buy and fly (and if there is only one or two people ever in it what’s the point of that?).
Now, if you can’t make your feet work, or if you’re too lazy to try, forget one of these. If you’re not interested in mastering things like slips fuggitaboutit. If you want, or need, to go fast look elsewhere. If you weigh twice as much as a regular FAA person you should probably get a bigger airplane.
That’s it. Simple. Beautiful. Classic. Comfortable. Timeless. Fun. Cheap. What else do you want?
Written By
Tony Caldwell
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