coffee shop gossip

[Let'sgoflying!]

A pilot friend just told me that he was at the airport this morning and watched a C182 land. Apparently a total electrical failure, not just the alternator (things came back on, upon 'bounce-down').
He reported being imc for the last 2 hours, came from Houston, going to California.
His wife did not leave the airplane for at least 20 minutes following the arrival, not a good scene.
I wonder if a battery powered GPS saved him, there is no radar coverage below 2500'agl here.

KMRF 061635Z AUTO 36013G18KT 1 1/2SM OVC008 07/06 A3030 RMK AO1 P0026
KMRF 061615Z AUTO 01016G21KT 1 3/4SM BKN008 OVC020 07/06 A3029 RMK AO1 P0015

 

[Brian Austin]

He flew for two hours with total electrical failure? Or just IMC?

Seems odd if it was two hours without electrical...

 

[wsuffa]

His wife did not leave the airplane for at least 20 minutes following the arrival, not a good scene.

"Boy, you in a heap o' trouble now!"

Dave,

You've got what, a VOR approach and a GPS approach? I'm guessing some kind of handheld would do. Wonder how he picked up the weather/altimeter?

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Thats what Im thinking, a battery operated gps handheld - the very thing we talked about doing on poa a while back, if we lost it all.
vor and gps only here. Hope they got it figured out and still stayed put, its on the deck here now.

 

[Big Bird]

"Boy, you in a heap o' trouble now!"
snip
Wonder how he picked up the weather/altimeter?

GPSMAP 396 with XM weather has metars