Cessna 152 Serial Numbers, Model Years and Exceptions

Cessna 152 serial research involves ordinary production ranges, two exceptional A152 identities and several source disagreements that affect model-year interpretation. U.S. 152 and A152 serials belong to different namespaces from Reims F152 and FA152 serials. Keeping the full identifier preserves the origin and identity needed for certification, manuals and maintenance research.

Use this page with the model guide. A serial can establish or narrow documented production applicability, but it cannot prove an installed engine, current tank configuration, STC installation or AD compliance. The technical subjects linked through the Cessna 152 reference require their own equipment, document and condition evidence.

Start With the Complete Aircraft Identifier

Read the plate model and serial together and compare them with the aircraft records. Retain every prefix and leading zero. A registration mark is a separate identifier and should not be entered as though it were a manufacturer serial. An engine or propeller also has its own identity; matching an airframe number does not establish the component serial needed for a component-specific directive.

Check the exceptional identities before assigning a model from an ordinary interval. Then match the full serial format and origin against the inclusive range endpoints. Finally, read the notes and conflicts attached to the affected group. These steps prevent a technically correct numerical comparison from returning the wrong legal model or an unjustifiably certain year.

Do not manufacture a normal-looking serial when a source uses a short or unusual identifier. In particular, 681 should not be padded or prefixed through a general formatting formula. Its relationship with A15200681 is supported as a specific notation case, not permission to normalize every short historical serial in the same way.

Exceptional A152 Identities

A1500433 is legally assigned to A152 and excluded from the A150L range in the Cessna 150 reference. Its prefix is therefore a poor guide to its legal model. A lookup that returns only a family based on the first characters would miss the most important identity evidence for this aircraft. The exceptional assignment takes precedence over ordinary interval matching.

The second case is recorded as 681 / A15200681. The TCDS uses 681; later FAA material can express the longer notation. Preserve both notations as source-qualified identifiers for the same exceptional case. Do not add both to a physical-aircraft count or assume that the longer spelling establishes an ordinary A152 production interval.

The special table lists model-year assignments separately from calendar manufacture dates. They are not independently established manufacture or delivery dates. Other technical records can group an exceptional aircraft separately, including the A152 weight-and-balance groups. A correct identity is the starting point for those relationships rather than a reason to ignore their additional conditions.

Ordinary U.S. and Reims Model-Year Ranges

The U.S. standard model has serial eligibility from 15279406 through 15286033 in the identity record. The ordinary A152 sequence is separate, with its two exceptional identities kept outside the simple range interpretation. The 152 model page and A152 model page connect those identities to their exact engine, certification and handbook records.

French-built F152 and FA152 require the Reims prefix and A13EU context. Their source model-year coverage extends through 1986. Do not discard a French aircraft merely because its year lies beyond the U.S. 1985 endpoint. Conversely, do not infer a French annual production range where the source does not supply one; the FA152 service-year gap remains visible.

The table's endpoints are inclusive within the stated format. They must not be expanded across a prefix change or used as a calendar date code. The notes retain source qualifications, and the conflict table below explains the disputed year and starting-serial cases. A range entry is most useful when all these fields travel together into a research note.

Conflicting Year and Starting-Serial Evidence

For A1520944 through A1520948, the authority and manufacturer year tables differ. the treatment follows the FAA TCDS for the primary model-year assignment while retaining the manufacturer's competing boundary. That does not erase the manufacturer's evidence or establish the calendar manufacture date. A document search may still need to understand why different references organize those aircraft differently.

For early F152 aircraft, A13EU eligibility begins at F15201429, while a service-manual year table begins at F15201449. A later FAA advisory also uses the later start. The earlier certified identities must not disappear merely because a service or advisory table has narrower coverage. Identity eligibility, a production-year table and advisory effectivity are separate questions.

The A13EU document reference provides the Reims certification context. The 3A19 reference provides the U.S. context. Neither document should be treated as a universal answer to every maintenance question: identity authority establishes identity, while an instruction or directive retains its own applicability and controlling text.

Engine Eligibility Is Another Serial Relationship

The ordinary model name does not identify every factory engine variant. The O-235 engine reference preserves the L2C-to-N2C change at 15285595 for standard U.S. aircraft and A1521015 for the U.S. Aerobat, together with approved rework conditions. A range lookup that supplies only model and year leaves this technical relationship unfinished.

Those are U.S. airframe boundaries. French engine applicability must follow the Reims records and their model-year or rework wording. Removing F or FA and comparing the remaining digits with a U.S. threshold would create an unsupported engine assignment. A shared engine family is not a shared serial namespace.

Even an exact factory match does not establish the installed engine today. Engine identification and aircraft maintenance or alteration records are needed when parts, power limitations or an engine AD are being investigated. The airframe serial does not contain the history of every engine replacement, overhaul or approved change.

Weight, Systems and Other Effectivity Breaks

The weight-and-balance guide separates early and later U.S. ramp-weight groups. The standard-model boundary and Aerobat boundary are distinct, and the exceptional A152 serial 681 has an explicit relationship. These groups demonstrate why a serial exception must remain available beyond the identity page: later technical joins also depend on it.

The systems guide contains multiple aileron-related changes. They should be read by component and change description, not combined into one generic aileron modification date. A crossover-turnbuckle relocation and a control-Y/bellcrank detail can have different source effectivity. Matching the word aileron does not establish that they describe the same modification.

For parts or maintenance research, preserve the manual's exact effectivity and the aircraft's installed assembly. A production change does not prove that a surviving aircraft retains every factory part, and an eligibility statement is not evidence that optional or modified equipment is installed. Records and inspection remain necessary where the question depends on actual configuration.

Manuals and Model-Year Research

The handbook guide identifies annual U.S. publication families and the later relationship that includes Reims 1986 serials. A publication year is therefore a useful search aid rather than a complete effectivity rule. The title-page serial, revision lineage, model and supplements still need to agree with the aircraft.

A generic information manual can support study but cannot resolve all aircraft-specific operational authority. If a serial lies in a disputed year group, do not choose whichever adjacent-year handbook is easiest to find. Preserve the conflict and investigate the actual aircraft documents. The point of the serial reference is to expose that question, not to conceal it behind a confident-looking answer.

Counting Identities and Planning Further Research

Ordinary range sizes, special records and alternate notations are different counting units. The A152 notation case is particularly important: adding every available identifier would exaggerate physical production. Likewise, a model-year coverage span does not establish that each year has the same number of aircraft or even a populated entry in every service table.

For a buyer, the next useful evidence is the agreement between the plate, aircraft records and documented model assignment. For a mechanic, it is the correct effectivity for the installed assembly or instruction. For a historian, it is a source-qualified year statement. None of these questions is answered by replacing unresolved dates or configuration with values copied from a neighboring serial.

Individual Cessna 152 Model References

• Cessna 152 - 1978-1985
• Cessna A152 Aerobat - 1978-1985
• Reims/Cessna F152 - 1978-1986
• Reims/Cessna FA152 Aerobat - 1978-1986

Related Cessna 152 Subjects

• Cessna 152 aircraft reference
• Serial ranges and identity exceptions
• Models and Variants
• Specifications and Certified Limits
• Engines and Applicability
• Propellers and Approved Applications
• Performance by Model Year
• Fuel Capacity and Tanks
• Weight, CG and Loading
• Systems and Production Changes
• Airworthiness Directives
• Known Issues and Prebuy Research
• Manuals and Documents