The more I fly, the more I believe that the body of pilots that regularly do
things that most will consider "stupid pilot tricks" is larger than what
many people think. The odds are that this guy will get away with this
multiple times before he gets bit. Of course there's also a small chance
that he may never get bit hard enough to scare or kill himself.

While what you say is true, it really depends on the type of
thunderstorms Peter is describing. (And I don't mean to imply that
his observations were inaccurate in any way.)

In the Midwest, in summer, it's common for afternoon thunderstorms to
develop. Sometimes these are in a line (associated with a front), but
many times they are similar to Florida "pop-up" thunderstorms, in that
they build in place. We call them "popcorn storms".

Penetrating a line of storms associated with a front is dicey at best,
even with a 396/496. Flying *around* "popcorn" thunderstorms,
however, can be perfectly safe, given decent visibility. It's even
doable without XM in the plane, but the satellite data in the cockpit
makes it MUCH less stressful, mostly because you can tell where the
storms are building, and where they are subsiding. This gives you an
important strategic leg up on the situation that makes it truly easy
to stay out of trouble.

When you can see a towering cumulus cloud building into a 35,000 foot
monster over *there* -- but it's perfectly clear over *here* -- it's
pretty easy to circumnavigate the problem, and steer a wide berth away
from any potential wind shear, precipitation, or bad visibility.
This is especially true in the "big sky" Midwest, where there is
little terrain to block your view to the horizon.

Add the XM satellite data to that visual information, and you've got a
perfectly doable situation -- given the "right" kind of storms. (It
helps to be a student of weather, in order to discern the difference
-- but the differences are pretty obvious, once you know what to look
for...)

I bet if there was a reliable way to find the number of pilots who have or
do fly in the clouds while "VFR," it would be eye-opening.

I don't know any VFR pilots who would voluntarily fly into clouds.
I'm sure they exist, but I think modern flight instructors have very
thoroughly indoctrinated their students with the dangers of instrument
flight without proper instruction.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"