Jim_R
Pattern Altitude
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
- Messages
- 1,842
- Display Name
Display name:
Jim
My Cherokee 180 just came out of annual...had a new engine monitor installed while it was down. I assisted with the process, so I'd been crawling all over my plane for the last several days. I also knew I was excited to get back in the plane and fly it and check out my new toy, and told myself to be extra careful during my first flights.
I should have listened to myself a little better.
Took it on a short hop for a checkout/shakedown flight and to refuel it, since one of the things done was to drain a tank to replace a leaky sender gasket. Even though I'd been crawling all over my plane, my mechanic and I were very careful about the first engine start (before we recowled) and I did a (normal) thorough preflight walkaround.
I also thought I did a thorough runup checkout. Incorporated the engine monitor into my runup engine performance evaluation. Did everything by the book.
Except, as it turned out, for the one thing I needed to do: Check the alternator.
Even though I have a step in the checklist, and even though I _always_ toggle a load and look for the ammeter needle to show the current draw on the alternator...I didn't do it this time.
And I didn't do it during my abbreviated runup after getting fuel.
And I didn't do it again during my abbreviated runup after picking up a passenger for a short overnight trip. (I was on an IFR plan in severe clear VMC.)
I didn't check the alternator needle 20 minutes into our flight when COM1 (a GNS 430W) suddenly dropped off. Nor did I check it 40 seconds later when COM2 went dark...though I did realize by that time that I was having a widespread electrical issue.
I wasn't savvy enough to immediately turn off the big loads like my strobes and landing lights. I did manage to dial in 7600 on the transponder about 60 seconds before it, too, went dark. Not sure if that squawk got out, or not.
I pulled out my handheld and plugged in my headset. I could still hear ATC, but they could not hear my transmissions, nor could a relay plane they tried to get to call me. I was able to respond to a heading change request, so they knew I could hear them, but shortly afterward I was handed off from Approach to Center, and then I couldn't hear Center.
By now, I had turned off all loads I could, and I checked all the breakers and tried cycling the alternator field switch, with no joy. I still had my yoke-mounted iFly GPS, and used it to figure out where the nearest airports were...I did not want to continue to my destination with no electrical system. Nearest public use airport was about 15 min away, but had no maintenance on the field and probably no rental car offices in the small town, so I elected to fly 15 min past it to the nearest town large enough to have maintenance and cars. That field also had a tower, and I was able to communicate with them via the handheld while still about 20 mi out, advised them of my situation, and canceled IFR.
I should also mention that without electrical I had no autopilot, and during the commotion to retrieve my handheld and charts from my flight bag in the back seat, there were a few...lets say altitude and heading deviations. The ride had already been a little bit bumpy, and my passenger, who was already stressed by the situation, began to get a bit queasy at this point, and I once again had to reach into the back seat for the sick sacks.
The iFly does not have an internal battery, but I keep a backup in my bag: it's a combo charger/battery pack loaded with 10 AA batteries and it has a cigarette lighter jack. I have tested this config in my living room before, and knew that it provided about an hour of run time. I also periodically recharge the Sanyo Eneloop batteries in that gizmo, and in fact had just done that the night before this flight, so it was in perfect shape for this situation.
Except that when I needed it, it didn't work. The iFly would not run on that battery pack for some reason, so I ended up losing that GPS, too.
Tower didn't have radar, but ATC still had my primary radar return and relayed vectors to the field, which helped with my navigation, since I had mis-identified a road and was flying about 30 deg off-course. After they got me pointed correctly, I was able to find the airport with no trouble.
However, the stress and commotion in the cockpit took its toll on me. I was cleared for a runway into the wind, but ended up lining up for the wrong runway. Tower gave me the option to use that runway if I wanted to, and since I just wanted to be on the ground at this point, I took it. That was a bad decision.
What's the first rule when dealing with any situation in an airplane? "Fly the airplane." Well, I had sort of managed to do that, albeit not with grace and aplomb, through this episode, until I reached the runway threshold, at which point I think I mentally let go. After all I had just been through, I forgot to fly the plane onto the runway, and whaddya know? Planes don't just land themselves.
I carried two notches of flaps into a strong crosswind. I flared too high. I didn't keep the nose centered. We came down hard in a crab and bounced. The plane wobbled and came back down on one wheel, still crabbed. For a few seconds, I thought the wingtip was going to bite and we were going to cartwheel.
Somehow, I (or more likely, the laws of physics despite me) managed to get all three wheels on the ground with the nose pointed down the runway and some braking action applied.
Definitely the worst landing of my entire short piloting career (300 hrs), to go along with the worst flight of my career. Also had to call ATC afterward, of course, and explain what happened.
I learned a lot of lessons as a result of this experience:
I should have listened to myself a little better.
Took it on a short hop for a checkout/shakedown flight and to refuel it, since one of the things done was to drain a tank to replace a leaky sender gasket. Even though I'd been crawling all over my plane, my mechanic and I were very careful about the first engine start (before we recowled) and I did a (normal) thorough preflight walkaround.
I also thought I did a thorough runup checkout. Incorporated the engine monitor into my runup engine performance evaluation. Did everything by the book.
Except, as it turned out, for the one thing I needed to do: Check the alternator.
Even though I have a step in the checklist, and even though I _always_ toggle a load and look for the ammeter needle to show the current draw on the alternator...I didn't do it this time.
And I didn't do it during my abbreviated runup after getting fuel.
And I didn't do it again during my abbreviated runup after picking up a passenger for a short overnight trip. (I was on an IFR plan in severe clear VMC.)
I didn't check the alternator needle 20 minutes into our flight when COM1 (a GNS 430W) suddenly dropped off. Nor did I check it 40 seconds later when COM2 went dark...though I did realize by that time that I was having a widespread electrical issue.
I wasn't savvy enough to immediately turn off the big loads like my strobes and landing lights. I did manage to dial in 7600 on the transponder about 60 seconds before it, too, went dark. Not sure if that squawk got out, or not.
I pulled out my handheld and plugged in my headset. I could still hear ATC, but they could not hear my transmissions, nor could a relay plane they tried to get to call me. I was able to respond to a heading change request, so they knew I could hear them, but shortly afterward I was handed off from Approach to Center, and then I couldn't hear Center.
By now, I had turned off all loads I could, and I checked all the breakers and tried cycling the alternator field switch, with no joy. I still had my yoke-mounted iFly GPS, and used it to figure out where the nearest airports were...I did not want to continue to my destination with no electrical system. Nearest public use airport was about 15 min away, but had no maintenance on the field and probably no rental car offices in the small town, so I elected to fly 15 min past it to the nearest town large enough to have maintenance and cars. That field also had a tower, and I was able to communicate with them via the handheld while still about 20 mi out, advised them of my situation, and canceled IFR.
I should also mention that without electrical I had no autopilot, and during the commotion to retrieve my handheld and charts from my flight bag in the back seat, there were a few...lets say altitude and heading deviations. The ride had already been a little bit bumpy, and my passenger, who was already stressed by the situation, began to get a bit queasy at this point, and I once again had to reach into the back seat for the sick sacks.
The iFly does not have an internal battery, but I keep a backup in my bag: it's a combo charger/battery pack loaded with 10 AA batteries and it has a cigarette lighter jack. I have tested this config in my living room before, and knew that it provided about an hour of run time. I also periodically recharge the Sanyo Eneloop batteries in that gizmo, and in fact had just done that the night before this flight, so it was in perfect shape for this situation.
Except that when I needed it, it didn't work. The iFly would not run on that battery pack for some reason, so I ended up losing that GPS, too.
Tower didn't have radar, but ATC still had my primary radar return and relayed vectors to the field, which helped with my navigation, since I had mis-identified a road and was flying about 30 deg off-course. After they got me pointed correctly, I was able to find the airport with no trouble.
However, the stress and commotion in the cockpit took its toll on me. I was cleared for a runway into the wind, but ended up lining up for the wrong runway. Tower gave me the option to use that runway if I wanted to, and since I just wanted to be on the ground at this point, I took it. That was a bad decision.
What's the first rule when dealing with any situation in an airplane? "Fly the airplane." Well, I had sort of managed to do that, albeit not with grace and aplomb, through this episode, until I reached the runway threshold, at which point I think I mentally let go. After all I had just been through, I forgot to fly the plane onto the runway, and whaddya know? Planes don't just land themselves.
I carried two notches of flaps into a strong crosswind. I flared too high. I didn't keep the nose centered. We came down hard in a crab and bounced. The plane wobbled and came back down on one wheel, still crabbed. For a few seconds, I thought the wingtip was going to bite and we were going to cartwheel.
Somehow, I (or more likely, the laws of physics despite me) managed to get all three wheels on the ground with the nose pointed down the runway and some braking action applied.
Definitely the worst landing of my entire short piloting career (300 hrs), to go along with the worst flight of my career. Also had to call ATC afterward, of course, and explain what happened.
I learned a lot of lessons as a result of this experience:
- Listen to that little voice that tells you you're at risk of making stupid mistakes. Don't just double-check...triple check everything to make sure you're not missing something. And if you can't bring yourself to do that...maybe you shouldn't be flying until you settle down and can.
- Don't forget the ammeter as part of your normal scan. (I was too busy playing with my new engine monitor and trying to learn its leaning and fuel flow functions and neglecting my other instruments.) When anything electrical stops working, check the ammeter.
- My passenger on this trip is a regular companion on my flights, but it had never occurred (to either of us) in the dozens of previous flights to get her familiar with the basic flight controls so that she could hold us generally straight and level while I was digging for things in the back seat or fiddling with charts and handheld radio and such. Going forward (if she ever joins me in the plane again!), we agreed that she would get that experience.
- I am going to talk to the avionics shop about options for connecting my handheld to an external antenna to improve broadcast range.
- I am going to reconsider my iFly backup battery situation.
- Last but not least, if/when something like this happens again, I am going to try harder to FLY THE AIRPLANE until I'm on the ground and completely stopped. (This one surprised me...I really thought I at least already knew this lesson. Talk about a wake-up call.)
Last edited:
