Well Done, Young Jedi Warrior!

From an internet forum I frequent. The kid kept his shit together when it mattered.:

I was flying to Houston to meet a friend in a rented Cessna 210 when the cockpit started filling up with smoke. I opened up all the windows and vents to get the smoke out, and then I declared an emergency and went to San Marcos (the closest airport).


 I lined up to land with the runway and tried to bring the gear down, but the gear wouldn't come down. I started pumping on the hand pump to get the gear down (which I realized was hot) and managed to get the gear down and land safety. All the firetrucks and stuff met me and I was happy to be on the ground.


I didn't realize until all the adrenaline wore off that I burned my hand trying to get the gear down because the handle was so hot. Turns out a hydraulic line busted and there was hydraulic fluid all over the place (cause of the smoke and why I couldnt get the gear down).


Really puts things into perspective when something like this happens, though. My hands are still shaking and my eyes still sting a little bit from the smoke. I had a few angels watching me tonight. 


I took a handful out of my luck bag and put it in my experience bag tonight, that is for sure .

Amazing story. You can see the streaks of hydraulic fluid down the side of the Cessna 210.
Here's a link of the condensed ATC audio for you aviation geeks.