bLizZuE
Calling for engine starts en français
I remember my first failure of this kind. I won't fool you with stories of how cool I played it, and how sure I was of myself. I was scared, and I did stupid things. I didn't think it through, and I almost bent up an airplane.
Early in 2006 I had decided to pick up a friend that was visiting me in FL. I had received my PPL in December '05, so I was a fairly new PPL. This trip would take me into the very busy airspace of Orlando International. I was a very bold PPL. Perhaps this was the beginning of my error chain. This fact put a lot of pressure on me to complete the flight, and I was nervous having never been to this particular airport. I was also making this flight at night. I was rushing myself during pre-flight and initial taxi and run-up. I was running late, and I wanted to be there before my friend landed.
During my engine run-up I noticed some considerable static feedback in my headset. I wasn't sure what was causing it, but I was annoyed. Everything appeared normal, so I thought little of it, and took off heading towards Orlando.
I picked up flight following once I left the airport vicinity, and everything was proceeding fine. I was fat dumb and happy in my little Warrior, buzzing towards a large class bravo primary airport. My cockpit was overall pretty dark. The moon was out that night. I had most of the lights turned down low, to enjoy the view of the Florida coastline at night.
A bright amber light illuminated my mostly dim and dark cockpit. As if connected to my adrenal gland, this little light with the letters ALT on it got my heart racing. I was solo, at night, and I was experiencing my first ever electrical failure!(Or so I thought at the time)
I began to panic. What would happen if the battery died and I couldn't turn on the runway lights? Would I be able to land without a landing light OR runway lights? How will I ask for help if the radios go dim? I momentarily considered continuing to my destination. I quickly dismissed that thought, and told center of my problem. I'm certain to this day I sounded just as scared as I was. My voice trembled and my uncertainty was surely clear. I didn't know what to do first. I didn't know where I should take the airplane. I was trying to do everything, and yet I did nothing.
The first airport I tried to go to didn't have airport lighting. I sure tried to turn the lights on though. I didn't even look to see if they had lights, I just tuned in the CTAF and clicked like a mad man. I was clicking the PTT so fast it hurt my finger. The center was extremely helpful, and told me of the closest airports I could go to. I made a turn for another airport close by.
This one had lights. I was only slightly relieved by the fact that I had the airport in sight, and the runway lights were on. I have no reason to panic at this point, yet my adrenaline was flowing and I was still worried about not being able to see the runway. I told the center I was going to shut everything off to conserve power. (The airport was less than 10 miles away, and I was sooo concerned about losing power)
Here I am. Panic stricken, and chocked full of adrenaline, plowing towards a non toward airport at night in what I believe to be an airplane about to have the wings fold. I was focused on landing. That's all I wanted to do. I wanted to be on the ground, and done with it.
My approach to the airport was excessively fast. I was coming down final at 120 kts. I wanted to be on the ground as fast as possible. Well I got what I wished for. I got a very fast approach, fast final, fast flare, fast float, fast float, fast float, fast float, and touchdown.
I touched down with less than 1000 feet of available runway remaining. I exited the runway on the very last taxiway after a very firm amount of braking. The distinct smell of smoke entered the cabin. I probably put a few flat spots on those tires.
I sat in the airplane with the engine idling just clear of the runway. I was replaying what had just happened, and how I had gotten to where I was. I couldn't believe how close I came to not making it on the runway. During my long float I considered going around. I decided against it because I didn't want to fly anymore. I wanted this airplane on the ground.
If you're familiar with any electrical system, you know that most incorporate a voltage regulator and even an over voltage relay. Had I kept my cool, and opened the checklist, I would have been able to reset the relay. This would have solved my insignificant 'problem'. The truth was I had no failure. It was just a voltage spike that shut the alternator off. Just flipping the ALT switch off and then back on would have made my entire 'emergency' go away.
Since this 'incident' I have had multiple electrical problems, gear warnings or indication failures, engine power loss and roughness, and even total power loss. Every time something happens, I remember this flight. I remember the mess I almost created from nothing. I take a deep breath, and slow down my actions.
Early in 2006 I had decided to pick up a friend that was visiting me in FL. I had received my PPL in December '05, so I was a fairly new PPL. This trip would take me into the very busy airspace of Orlando International. I was a very bold PPL. Perhaps this was the beginning of my error chain. This fact put a lot of pressure on me to complete the flight, and I was nervous having never been to this particular airport. I was also making this flight at night. I was rushing myself during pre-flight and initial taxi and run-up. I was running late, and I wanted to be there before my friend landed.
During my engine run-up I noticed some considerable static feedback in my headset. I wasn't sure what was causing it, but I was annoyed. Everything appeared normal, so I thought little of it, and took off heading towards Orlando.
I picked up flight following once I left the airport vicinity, and everything was proceeding fine. I was fat dumb and happy in my little Warrior, buzzing towards a large class bravo primary airport. My cockpit was overall pretty dark. The moon was out that night. I had most of the lights turned down low, to enjoy the view of the Florida coastline at night.
A bright amber light illuminated my mostly dim and dark cockpit. As if connected to my adrenal gland, this little light with the letters ALT on it got my heart racing. I was solo, at night, and I was experiencing my first ever electrical failure!(Or so I thought at the time)
I began to panic. What would happen if the battery died and I couldn't turn on the runway lights? Would I be able to land without a landing light OR runway lights? How will I ask for help if the radios go dim? I momentarily considered continuing to my destination. I quickly dismissed that thought, and told center of my problem. I'm certain to this day I sounded just as scared as I was. My voice trembled and my uncertainty was surely clear. I didn't know what to do first. I didn't know where I should take the airplane. I was trying to do everything, and yet I did nothing.
The first airport I tried to go to didn't have airport lighting. I sure tried to turn the lights on though. I didn't even look to see if they had lights, I just tuned in the CTAF and clicked like a mad man. I was clicking the PTT so fast it hurt my finger. The center was extremely helpful, and told me of the closest airports I could go to. I made a turn for another airport close by.
This one had lights. I was only slightly relieved by the fact that I had the airport in sight, and the runway lights were on. I have no reason to panic at this point, yet my adrenaline was flowing and I was still worried about not being able to see the runway. I told the center I was going to shut everything off to conserve power. (The airport was less than 10 miles away, and I was sooo concerned about losing power)
Here I am. Panic stricken, and chocked full of adrenaline, plowing towards a non toward airport at night in what I believe to be an airplane about to have the wings fold. I was focused on landing. That's all I wanted to do. I wanted to be on the ground, and done with it.
My approach to the airport was excessively fast. I was coming down final at 120 kts. I wanted to be on the ground as fast as possible. Well I got what I wished for. I got a very fast approach, fast final, fast flare, fast float, fast float, fast float, fast float, and touchdown.
I touched down with less than 1000 feet of available runway remaining. I exited the runway on the very last taxiway after a very firm amount of braking. The distinct smell of smoke entered the cabin. I probably put a few flat spots on those tires.
I sat in the airplane with the engine idling just clear of the runway. I was replaying what had just happened, and how I had gotten to where I was. I couldn't believe how close I came to not making it on the runway. During my long float I considered going around. I decided against it because I didn't want to fly anymore. I wanted this airplane on the ground.
If you're familiar with any electrical system, you know that most incorporate a voltage regulator and even an over voltage relay. Had I kept my cool, and opened the checklist, I would have been able to reset the relay. This would have solved my insignificant 'problem'. The truth was I had no failure. It was just a voltage spike that shut the alternator off. Just flipping the ALT switch off and then back on would have made my entire 'emergency' go away.
Since this 'incident' I have had multiple electrical problems, gear warnings or indication failures, engine power loss and roughness, and even total power loss. Every time something happens, I remember this flight. I remember the mess I almost created from nothing. I take a deep breath, and slow down my actions.
