Well, the 150 is, IMHO a far superior aircraft. But then, I'm flying a 150 about every day, and I've never been checked out in a 152...
The O-200 is smaller, and produces only 100 HP, but it's lighter. A well maintained O-200 power 150 (like I fly) can easily match the performance of a 152 (ours outdo the 152's on the field, even the one's with new engines).
The real advantages are that it looks better (the 152 is ugly because of that 235, the 150 keeps tapering to the front of the cowling). For what we do with them (prescision landings) the 150 is FAR superior. In fact, at a NIFA competition (the National Intercollegiate Flying Association...really the only place to have organized competitions for such things), most everybody still has 150s around. The big reason is that they are basically the same airframe, but the 150 could have 40 degrees of flaps. The 152's only have 30. That last ten degrees makes a BIG difference. For instance, the other day, I maintained 125 MPH until I was 1/4 mile final, then I chopped the power, and put down 40 flaps...I actually had to add a touch of power to land on the runway.
The 150 spins just fine I guess. The only other thing I've done spins in was a military trainer (T-34A). The 150 spins not too fast, and it really doesn't want to spin (in fact, the other day with full aft elevator, and rudder INTO the spin, it came out of it after about 1 and a quarter turns). It's really kind of nice in the 150 though, since it's so docile and simple to fly, we can spin for fun, and really not be worried about the airplane...
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