Flight Training - May 2011 - 42

FLIGHT LESSON

By Dennis Johnson
FLIGHT LESSON offers the opportunity for pilots to learn from the experiences of others.

TO RESET OR NOT TO RESET

POP GOES THE BREAKER

t was a clear, blue-sky day for my first cross-country solo flight, an easy 54-mile jaunt from Manassas to Charlottesville, Virginia. While piloting a well-worn Cessna 152 above some of the nation’s most pastoral countryside and highest-priced horse country—Hollywood stars Christopher Reeve and Sissy Spacek both had homes somewhere below—I made my initial call to the Charlottesville Tower. At least, I tried.
“Charlottesville Tower, Cessna ThreeFive-Seven-Delta-Juliet is 10 miles to the northeast, inbound for….” Pop! There went the radio circuit breaker. I followed the procedure I’d been taught and reset the breaker. The radio revived and I could hear the tower chatter. I transmitted again, “Charlottesville Tower, Cessna Three-Five-Seven-DeltaJuliet, eight miles to…” Pop! Since it was evident that my transmitting was blowing the breaker, I reset it one more time and listened only. Being a novice I couldn’t remember the transponder code for radio failure, but I stayed off the microphone and the tower crew obviously saw me coming. They must have figured out what was happening as they radioed to me, “Cessna Three-Five-Seven-DeltaJuliet, enter the pattern, cleared to land.” Once on the ground in Charlottesville I pondered my options. Could I fly back to Manassas without a radio? As a very lowtime pilot, it seemed better all around to call for a couple instructors from the FBO to make the quick flight down in another FBO airplane and have one of them fly back with me. I learned a few lessons that day. The first was how valuable carrying a handheld transceiver can be in the case of radio failure. I realized the significant additional level of safety there is in being able to call your

radio communications, but since Class D airports tend to be smaller you might be allowed to telephone the tower, set an arrival time, and use light-gun signals for operations. That will depend on the controllers’ workload. Don’t even think about approaching a Class C or B airport without a radio unless it’s a true emergency and you’re prepared for lots of questions and paperwork from the FAA. After that flight I thoroughly studied my aircraft’s electrical system. When you’re a student pilot, flying aging flight-school airplanes—many of which have had more hard knocks than a country singer—you better put your nose in the pilot’s operating handbook and develop a mental picture of your electrical system. Finally, 7600, the transponder code for radio failure, is now tattooed on my brain and noted on my pilot’s kneeboard. In recent years the opinion on popped circuit breakers has changed. When I had my fateful flight in the early 1990s the rule was to push in a circuit breaker once after it pops. I don’t know if those 1960s-vintage circuit breakers had a tendency to pop for unknown reasons, or during transient fluctuations in the power system, but it seems that pilots then didn’t always trust a circuit breaker to indicate a serious electrical problem with the device it protects. Circuit breakers on recently built aircraft are considered to be far more reliable, and a pilot who encounters a popped circuit breaker should deem that piece of equipment out of play. The primary fear is that resetting a circuit breaker may

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT APPROACHING A CLASS C OR B AIRPORT WITHOUT A RADIO UNLESS IT'S A TRUE EMERGENCY.
position and use your ears to locate traffic, instead of just your eyes. It also gives you many more options for destinations to land. The second lesson was to learn the airspace requirements regarding communications. At nontowered airports you don’t need a radio to land, although it’s a good idea; there can be a lot of traffic at those rural airfields. At towered airports (Class B, C, and D) you must have overload the electrical system and start a fire. The FAA “reiterates its concern about resetting circuit breakers during flight. Crewmembers may create a potentially hazardous situation if they reset a circuit breaker without knowing what caused it to trip,” states Advisory Circular 120-80a. Student pilots are taught to check all circuit breakers during their preflight, but none of my instructors really taught me

ALEX WILLIAMSON

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Flight Training - May 2011

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