As for experiences of flights in the light charter market - how about a gear problem on climbout (doesn't come up, then won't lock down as I cycle it). Have to carry on, with a liver on board for transplant. Manage to get most of the gear up, but clearly something still dangling, so I spend 3 hours at gear limiting speed, expecting to crash at the end of the flight!
We do miss the weather radar. Have only been hit by lightning once, but been through a good few storms and squalls - and squalls can be worse than storms. Bounced my line trainer off the ceiling on one (he's an airline pilot, so loosens his lapstrap. I used to fly aeros, so always keep mine tight!).
Have been lucky with my engine failures - one on final, the other other just after landing (hard to taxy on one!). Watch out for low-hour engines. The first 50 hours after rebuild are the highest risk.