AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - 101

P&E

NEVER AGAIN

In the dark
What caused a sudden electrical failure at night?

SARAH HANSON

BY GILBERT HALASZ

IT WAS CAVU ALL THE WAY from Hanover
County near Richmond, Virginia, to
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where my
granddaughters, both beautiful and
bright, live. An easy 1 hour, 45 minute
flight that I had made many times in my
Piper Tri-Pacer, a craft that has served me
well for over 50 years. It has taken me reliably coast to coast several times, and as
far down in the Caribbean as St. Martin.
Among N4787A's strong points are its
cruise speed of 100 knots, which allows
for a lot of time to think; the interconnected rudder and ailerons, which negate
the need for an autopilot as you can steer
with your feet while handling paperwork;
and a five-hour endurance at 8.6 gph,
which exceeds the endurance of my threehour bladder. As for comfort, the front
seats are on an inclined slide that gives
more head room as the seat goes rearward and the center of gravity is right at
the front seats, the battery located under
the co-pilot's seat. The master switch and

starter are cleverly hidden from wouldbe thieves under the pilot's seat. My flight
bag fits nicely under my knees, providing
comfort and easy access to charts and
flight paraphernalia.
My visit was wonderful and the trip
home promised to be equally delightful. Traffic advisories from Philly and
Baltimore approach were exceptionally
good, and with the setting sun reflected
on the underside of the big jets I spotted traffic immediately. Baltimore even
congratulated me on my quick sightings.
Darkness hit quickly as I passed over
southern Maryland. The stars seemed
equal to the number of lights from farms
along the way. My thoughts wandered
from the families sitting down to dinner, the wonderful day I had had, and the
beauty of flight.
As the stars and lights hazed over,
at first I thought it was because of my
misty eyes, but I soon realized that
there was dense ground fog marring the

tranquility of the evening. With 20 minutes to go to my destination, but with the
deepening ground fog, I thought it prudent to divert to Richmond International
(RIC) instead of trying to get into home
base. Before attempting contact with
Richmond Approach, I decided to study
my approach plates first. As I was grabbing them it happened: complete and
total electrical failure. Immediate darkness inside and out, no radios, and no
panic-yet-but real concern.
I cranked in a little nose-up trim, and
did my best to think through my next
move. Years back I had put Velcro on the
bill of my flying cap and affixed a penlight
to it. Unfortunately, it was back on the hat
shelf and out of reach. I had my handheld
radio handy, but it worked best with the
external antenna, and in the darkness
I couldn't fly and affix it. Should have
hooked it up before it got dark. As I got
closer I could call up RIC and get a precision no-gyro approach-if I could stay
upright long enough.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to relax
and diagnose the problem. The last thing I
did before the failure was get my approach
plates out of my bag, which was under
my knees, and which leans up against the
panel which contains the master toggle
switch. Like a flash, as they say, I turned
the toggle on, light restored-and except
for the IFR conditions, all was good.
Calling Richmond I got a clearance for
the ILS to Runway 16, with a vector that,
as luck would have it, took me right over
Hanover County Municipal Airport. I
spotted a bright orange light through the
haze which I knew to be the truck stop
one-half mile from my runway. I told RIC
I had OFP in sight and landed with no
damage to the airplane, and only psychological damage to the pilot.
In the future I will plan ahead better
and remember if something goes wrong to
ask, What was the last thing I did before
calamity struck?
AOPA
GILBERT HALASZ is a pilot with more

than 5,000 flight hours who lives in
Mechanicsville, Virginia.

aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 101


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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - 4
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - Cover4
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