When you get down to flare, pull that yoke back s l o w l y, or the ground effect will put you back up 20' real quick. But do pull it back for a full stall -- Cessna pilots take a bit to get the hang of Piper approaches.

Next, I can't seem to make a bad cross wind landing with our Cherokee. Mind you, I learned to fly on a 2300'x36' strip with cross winds. The Piper seems to know what I'm thinking and is slipping before I realize it.

The 180 has more performance than most 172s.

Bottom line: Wish I'd started in a Piper a long time ago.

A few years ago at 7500 MSL east of Columbus OH I had vis >5 with clear below 10K. It had been becoming progressively more hazy as I flew north up a victor airway to a VOR. Suddenly I had less than 1/4 mile vis and could see straight down just as clear as I could 2 minutes earlier.

All I had to do was descend to 5500 and I was back in the clear! Actually, I was back in the clear as I passed through 6500.

Another time I was on a long X/C I had just passed a stalled T-storm to the south with weather lowering in the area. I had just talked to CLE FSS and I was supposed to have vis >5 and overcast 3000 MSL from where I was (just east of MFD) all the way to CAK. Just as I got our fuel stop airport in sight, virga suddenly enveloped us and everything went grey. Thankfully I knew I could descend to 1800 (pattern altitude) and we popped out. 2 minutes later the ceilings were back to over 2500 again.

At the time this happened, I was *not* IFR current and pretty near panicked because I didn't have one approach plate with me. I now stay current using a PCATD (PC based training device) so that I do at least 1 hold every 3 months with 1 approach.

However, I'm honest here - I don't make scud running a thing I want to do. My children only have one parent left, and I don't want to make them into orphans.