[budoka]

Welcome Partzguy and fellow flyer. quite a few of us here are pilots of one description or another. My personal bird is a '73 C172 with wheel pants, gap seals, powerflow exhaust and a full IFR panel. Now get out there and find yourself a ground based Wing to fly.

 

[budoka]

Beautiful bird Partzguy. I almost opted for the 182 when I picked mine up 10 years ago. I got swayed by the incredible economy (5.5 gph at 105 kts IAS cruise, low maint costs etc...practicality in the middle age crisis y'know). What I would really like is a straight tail Bonanza, I've flown the V's and just don't like the tail end "Bonanza Boogie". A light foot on the right ruddervator checks it, but I like straight once all trimmed out. I had a similar moon moment to your picture after waiting out a spring squall a few years back, but no camera (). Sky totally cleared, full moon, stars everywhere, butter smooth at 5500' and then the Aurora Borealis burst on the scene. One of those moments that is likely to never occur again...pure magic. You are right about 'being on top' but I have to watch icing in certain temp humidity conditions. In cloud on the airframe is obvious with single engine ops (s/e bug smashers are not an IFR bird) but 172's are notorious for carb ice and mine is no different. Knowing your plane is essential.