A few electrons short of a full charge
I had a promise to keep to the Chief Photographer. She has only made a few flights with me and I am trying to get her to fly with me more leading up to the inevitable day when, post-MBA and employed, I beg for an airplane. However, she didn't want to do any more $100 hamburger runs to the French Valley Cafe. She wanted to "go somewhere."
Accordingly, I planned a flight to Santa Catalina Island. Catalina is one of the Channel Islands off the coast of California near LA. Having been at various times a smuggling station, ranch, mine, etc, it is now under conservation and has one airport, two towns, and is a favorite destination among Southern Californians. The plan was to fly over in the morning, take the shuttle to Avalon for the day, then shuttle back to the airport and fly home in the evening. I reserved a Warrior out of KMYF and called it a plan.
Knowing the problems that can crop up with rental planes, especially club planes, I went to the airport Friday night to preflight the plane. It looked great, it had just come out of annual, and the gas was clean and filled to the tabs. Perfect!
Saturday morning, we went to the airport, did the preflight, loaded up and started up. I noticed a slight buzz in my radios, but nothing that is unusual for we pilots who fly older airplanes. We taxied out to 28R, did the runup, cleared for takeoff, let's go! Everything looks normal on the takeoff roll, liftoff, all conditions normal, we're on our way.
As I passed 500AGL or so, the buzzing faded away. I figured there must have been a little moisture in the contacts or something and it had cooked off. I climbed to 1500MSL, turned north along the coast, then called SOCAL for flight following since I would be conducting an extended overwater flight. I flew north of the 1800ft Class B shelf, started climbing to my cruise altitude of 4500MSL, and SOCAL was passing me my squawk and ident.
I dialed in the squawk, but the ident light didn't light when I hit the button. Funny. Hit it again. Zip. Cycle transponder off and back on. Nada. Do it again, same thing. "Cherokee 12345, SOCAL Approach, I have you on primary target but negative transponder. Please reset." "SOCAL this is Cherokee 12345, roger, standby." I shielded the top of the glareshield from the sun streaming in the passenger side windows and saw what I had feared, the ALT warning light on the panel that I had been unable to see due to the glare. A quick look at the Alternator output meter, reading zero, and I realized my alternator had tripped off the line.
Okay, Country, think. What's next. Airplane is trimmed and flying fine (aviate), you know where you are (navigate). Alternator master off, back on. The meter jumps up, the buzzing comes back for about three seconds, and goes away as the alternator trips back off. I call SOCAL (communicate), tell them I have lost my alternator and that I need an immediate return to KMYF. As I call them, the lights on COM2 (the radio I was working) go out, but come back on when I release the transmit button. SOCAL hears me and responds, but I am definitely wearing down the battery quickly. COM1 Off, transponder off, lights off, everything off but COM2. SOCAL clears me through the Class B direct KMYF without restrictions (Miramar was closed), do you want to declare an emergency? Acknowledge clearance, negative emergency, and as I acknowledge my clearance the lights on COM2 stay on. Good. I'd like to keep at least one radio working as I fly through Class B with no transponder into one of the busiest GA airports in America on a Saturday morning.
I point the aircraft directly at KMYF, start descending to pattern altitude, and focus on aviating. I tell the Chief Photographer that we have lost the alternator but that the battery will keep the radio going for a while and that the engine will keep running forever. Request quiet now as I make the approach. Approach and landing checklists complete. Switch to tower freq (already dialed in, just hit the button), briefest of transmissions to save the battery. Tower clears me to land #1 28R. Hit the speeds, hit the points, landing a little firm in my opinion but nothing that would get me yelled at by a CFI. Cleared to taxi same freq no restrictions. Ack the taxi clearance, back to the line, shut down. Done.
In retrospect, I probably should have declared the emergency. When I think of "declaring an emergency," I think of crash trucks rolling and the Feds landing on your head. Being without electricity in the cabin is no big deal, for some pilots it's their normal mode of operation, just not in Class B and busy Class D airspace. What I really needed was priority handling and the shortest route home. The controllers were great and gave me exactly the help I needed, but declaring the emergency would have formalized this process, especially in airspace as busy as we are. When do I declare the emergency, when the radios won't transmit anymore? Too late then. Declaring an emergency is free, may cost you a little paperwork (emphasis on may), but can get you the help you need when you need it.
I will probably also buy a handheld. Many folks say it is handy for VFR and a must have for IFR. As much flying as I do in and around Class B airspace, having no radios is not a good option.
Accordingly, I planned a flight to Santa Catalina Island. Catalina is one of the Channel Islands off the coast of California near LA. Having been at various times a smuggling station, ranch, mine, etc, it is now under conservation and has one airport, two towns, and is a favorite destination among Southern Californians. The plan was to fly over in the morning, take the shuttle to Avalon for the day, then shuttle back to the airport and fly home in the evening. I reserved a Warrior out of KMYF and called it a plan.
Knowing the problems that can crop up with rental planes, especially club planes, I went to the airport Friday night to preflight the plane. It looked great, it had just come out of annual, and the gas was clean and filled to the tabs. Perfect!
Saturday morning, we went to the airport, did the preflight, loaded up and started up. I noticed a slight buzz in my radios, but nothing that is unusual for we pilots who fly older airplanes. We taxied out to 28R, did the runup, cleared for takeoff, let's go! Everything looks normal on the takeoff roll, liftoff, all conditions normal, we're on our way.
As I passed 500AGL or so, the buzzing faded away. I figured there must have been a little moisture in the contacts or something and it had cooked off. I climbed to 1500MSL, turned north along the coast, then called SOCAL for flight following since I would be conducting an extended overwater flight. I flew north of the 1800ft Class B shelf, started climbing to my cruise altitude of 4500MSL, and SOCAL was passing me my squawk and ident.
I dialed in the squawk, but the ident light didn't light when I hit the button. Funny. Hit it again. Zip. Cycle transponder off and back on. Nada. Do it again, same thing. "Cherokee 12345, SOCAL Approach, I have you on primary target but negative transponder. Please reset." "SOCAL this is Cherokee 12345, roger, standby." I shielded the top of the glareshield from the sun streaming in the passenger side windows and saw what I had feared, the ALT warning light on the panel that I had been unable to see due to the glare. A quick look at the Alternator output meter, reading zero, and I realized my alternator had tripped off the line.
Okay, Country, think. What's next. Airplane is trimmed and flying fine (aviate), you know where you are (navigate). Alternator master off, back on. The meter jumps up, the buzzing comes back for about three seconds, and goes away as the alternator trips back off. I call SOCAL (communicate), tell them I have lost my alternator and that I need an immediate return to KMYF. As I call them, the lights on COM2 (the radio I was working) go out, but come back on when I release the transmit button. SOCAL hears me and responds, but I am definitely wearing down the battery quickly. COM1 Off, transponder off, lights off, everything off but COM2. SOCAL clears me through the Class B direct KMYF without restrictions (Miramar was closed), do you want to declare an emergency? Acknowledge clearance, negative emergency, and as I acknowledge my clearance the lights on COM2 stay on. Good. I'd like to keep at least one radio working as I fly through Class B with no transponder into one of the busiest GA airports in America on a Saturday morning.
I point the aircraft directly at KMYF, start descending to pattern altitude, and focus on aviating. I tell the Chief Photographer that we have lost the alternator but that the battery will keep the radio going for a while and that the engine will keep running forever. Request quiet now as I make the approach. Approach and landing checklists complete. Switch to tower freq (already dialed in, just hit the button), briefest of transmissions to save the battery. Tower clears me to land #1 28R. Hit the speeds, hit the points, landing a little firm in my opinion but nothing that would get me yelled at by a CFI. Cleared to taxi same freq no restrictions. Ack the taxi clearance, back to the line, shut down. Done.
In retrospect, I probably should have declared the emergency. When I think of "declaring an emergency," I think of crash trucks rolling and the Feds landing on your head. Being without electricity in the cabin is no big deal, for some pilots it's their normal mode of operation, just not in Class B and busy Class D airspace. What I really needed was priority handling and the shortest route home. The controllers were great and gave me exactly the help I needed, but declaring the emergency would have formalized this process, especially in airspace as busy as we are. When do I declare the emergency, when the radios won't transmit anymore? Too late then. Declaring an emergency is free, may cost you a little paperwork (emphasis on may), but can get you the help you need when you need it.
I will probably also buy a handheld. Many folks say it is handy for VFR and a must have for IFR. As much flying as I do in and around Class B airspace, having no radios is not a good option.
Aftermath
We secured the plane, called the owner and the club to let them know it was grounded, then found another plane (an Archer) and flew to Catalina. It was a beautiful day and I was going to fly, by God. By the time we got there it wasn't worth taking the shuttle into town due to limited time. Instead, we had a relaxing $100 lunch at the Airport in the Sky, took some pictures of this classic airport, and headed back out. We circled the island to enjoy the view, then headed home. A nice finish to a bad start. I'll post some pictures once we download them from the Chief Photographer's camera and she has time to do some of her fancy photographer stuff to them.
Cheers,
BC
Cheers,
BC
posted by Big Country at 7:52 AM
5 Comments:
wow, you sure have some adventures! Glad you finally got to Catalina and survived being NORDO. A handheld is good idea, for sure. Mine has a localiser display on it for if things are real bad, although I've read reviews that they can be worthless in the air at any range that is useful.
I think I would have done the same as you in not declaring an emergency. I'm tempted to say I would have headed for Oceanside where it would be much less busy but clearly you did the right thing as it all worked out.
Hey BC,
Thanks for all the great posts. I'm an instrument student in San Diego. Can I send you a PM? My email address is the therealinigomontoya at yahoo Thanks
Looking on the club booking page, I see the plane was only in maint for 17 minutes - I wonder what was wrong?
Paul,
The maintenance shop went over, ran the plane up and did a few checks on it and the alternator stayed online. The owner called me to find out all the indications b/c the maintenance shop hadn't found a problem. I gave him a detailed rendition and he said that it was probably an intermittent problem and he would have them look at it some more.
I'm not a big fan of adventures. There is something to be said for grace under pressure, but I'd rather just kick it and cruise.
I considered going to Oceanside, but I was closer to MYF (just above Del Mar before Bataquitos Lagoon) and the radios still worked. Between that and the fact that my car was at MYF, I turned for home.
I'm still trying to figure out what handheld to get. I think the NAV/COM would probably be the most useful long term, but I'm in one of my cheap phases right now, so I may just get a used transceiver and upgrade later.
Cheers,
BC
for what its worth, i just bought a handheld after doing research on the icoms and the vertex (and a little on the sportys). i was torn on buying the nav functionality, especially since i've heard very negative reviews about handhelds' abilities to track VORs. about 2 weeks ago, while i was on an instrument training flight, my friend hopped the back seat with his icom A24 and tried tracking. his verdict was that it provided guidance less than 50% of the time and that, in an emergency, between trying to decipher the readings and monitoring the small screen, too much of your precious attention resources would be diverted away from other important tasks. maybe a factor in your purchase might be how much time you fly in a radar environment and whether you could ask for radar vectors. for my needs, i chose the icom a6, without nav.
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