I've been flying as pilot in command of light airplanes pushing 40 years, and, yes, I've had my share of emergencies. Most of them were pretty benign, but one of them did cost me an airframe, and for a while, my confidence in machinery. (That passed.) Fortunately, that's all it cost, and I'm forever thankful. Here's how it went. It was probably as nice a morning as you'll get in mid-June in the Florida Keys: calm, hot, humid, clear. You know your airplane is going to perform like, well, let's call it like a languid dog. But you prepare for that. I had preflighted the Cessna 210 carefully and briefed my passengers thoroughly on the use of our life jackets and raft, because this flight was heading out over a couple of nice big bodies of water on the way to the island of Grand Cayman.
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