Overshadowed by Concorde where it sits, a Cessna 152 Aerobat occupies a spot in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. One might wonder why a common little plane sits in such a hallowed hangar. After all, the Cessna 152 Aerobat, a mildly aerobatic version of the long-running Cessna 150/152 model, one of thousands built, was pretty commonplace, its sporty checkerboard paint scheme and skylight windows notwithstanding. There’s really nothing extraordinary about the plane, is there?
Owners would certainly disagree, and besides, N7557L is no ordinary bird. It was owned by a man who launched untold thousands of dreams of flight (including mine) with his gift for writing flight manuals and instructing. I visit N7557L every time I am at Udvar-Hazy in reverence of its history and its former owner, William K. Kershner.
