Magic Carpet (aircraft)
The Cessna 150, with the tail number N23217,MC36 was Jennlynn Swift's first airplane, the little green and white Cessna.MC1 Jennlynn "discovered Magic Carpet -- the name came with the plane, lettered on the cowling -- down near San Diego at a price she figured she could afford in her second year at Caltech, around 1989.MC2 She bought it for $9500, and traded it in for the same amount a little over four years later when buying Soiled Dove, a Mooney Mark 21.MC14 In 2002 she discovered Magic Carpet at a used aircraft brokerage and bought it back for exactly the same amount, badly worn and needing serious repairs.MC36 Jennlynn had it restored (including a new paint job), and used it to depart her wedding.MC38
Real World Note
The Cessna 150's history is based on the 140 (see Rocinante) as an entry-level model in Cessna's product line. The 140 was a high-wing two-seat taildragger with fixed main landing gear, had cloth covered wings and either an 85 or 90 horsepower Continental 4 cylinder engine. About 7500 airplanes were made in about 4 years from 1946 to 1950.
The Cessna 150 is also a two-seat trainer but with metal-skinned wings, a tricycle landing gear and a 100 horsepower 4 cylinder Continental engine. It was first flown in 1957 and almost 24000 were made in the 19 years from 1958 to 1977.
Click here for the Wikipedia page on the Cessna 150
The later 152 model was in response to problems with the cheaper 80 or 87 octane fuel being used in the 150's Continental O-200A engine which was designed for 100 octane fuel. The 152 used the 150's fuselage coupled with a different engine, a Lycoming O-235. The 152 replaced the 150 from 1977 onward and remained in production until late 1985. The 150 and 152 were very popular airplanes for flight training and touring.
