"MRQB" wrote in message ...

Like to hear some feedback about the first year 172's

I had a '59 172 (same as yours but with a straight tail). The one
thing I would highly recommend is an autogas STC. If you can't run
autogas, then lean religiously (ground and air). The cylinders on
that O-300 just hate all that extra lead in 100LL and they have a
difficult time getting rid of it. The problems manifest themselves as
sticky valves.

Use carb heat as directed in the manual. The Cessna practice of
turning on precautionary carb heat came from models with the O-300
(and 150s w/O-200). While not extremely important in the later model
Lycoming powered Cessnas, the Continental versions will make ice when
you least expect it. They do not run the intake air through a warm
oil pan, so they tend to be more prone to carb ice. I called mine
"The Ice Machine".

Other than that is a a great flying plane. Expect about 120 mph in
cruise. Landing is a piece of cake with the barndoor 40 degree manual
flaps, but beware of the nose heaviness mentioned in another post.
With 2 up, if your not carrying ballast in the baggage compartment,
you may have some difficulty keeping the nose off the ground when
landing with full flaps.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)