One of the longest flights I’ve made in a general aviation aircraft was also one of the most humbling. The flight in a Cessna T210K from Valparaiso, Florida, to Colorado Springs, Colorado, was more than 1,000 miles each way. A fellow pilot and I took great care in planning our journey.
The flight to Colorado Springs went better than planned. After our business was completed, we headed out to the airplane early. With the exception of some difficulty starting the engine, we both felt pretty good about the condition of the airplane, the weather, and our potential for getting home in time for dinner. He needed to be dropped off in Montgomery, Alabama, before I could get home to Valparaiso. During the flight we discovered the amazing utility of the recently purchased portable GPS as it guided us around restricted airspace and military operations areas. We made it to Montgomery on time, and my friend insisted that I keep the GPS until we met at work the next day.
I filed IFR to Valparaiso, a 45-minute flight. The engine-starting problem had grown worse, and it was early evening before I was off the ground. Montgomery departure cleared me direct to Valparaiso. A few minutes later, I faintly heard my N-number through an unusual-sounding radio crackle.
After calling departure several times, I was certain Com 1 was down, so I switched to Com 2. The controller asked me to check my transponder. I expected to hear that departure could now see me south of Montgomery, but instead the controller said I was not being seen at all. Com 2 was starting to crackle, and the display lights on Com 1 went dark. I told departure that I thought I was having radio issues and heard my N-number two more times before Com 2 also went out. A quick look over the full panel revealed the ammeter indicating battery discharge and communications equipment shutting down from the top to bottom of the radio stack.
My first thought was not aviate, navigate, communicate, but rather What else is going to stop working? Within minutes, the entire instrument panel was dark. I began shutting down everything that was drawing power, and I lowered the gear. The airplane was dark except for the flashlights I had and the trusty battery-powered GPS sitting on top of the panel.
FAR 91.185, my emergency checklist, worries about restricted airspace near my destination, and common sense directed getting on the ground “as soon as practicable.” I really had no idea what else was going to be affected by whatever had caused the electrical failure.
I turned to the GPS and found the airport at Crestview, Florida, just north of the Class D airspace surrounding Valparaiso. I was 20 minutes from Crestview. As I came within five miles of the airport I began to scan for traffic and reviewed the no-flaps landing checklist. The airport’s pilot-controlled lighting was not on, and I felt more comfortable that I was the only one trying to land here. Not having any lights on the aircraft or on the runway was going to make everything a little more interesting.
I could make out the runway from the moonlight and airport environment lighting. I had practiced no-flap landings and I had practiced night landings. I had even practiced night landings at this airport with no runway lights. However, I had never done all these things at once.
The approach felt too low and fast until I cleared the threshold and knew I was going to make the runway. The main gear squeaked onto the runway, and I bounced back into the air. I held the nose high to avoid a porpoise and settled back onto the runway. I taxied off the dark runway toward the lights of the FBO. Once tied down, I called base operations at Valparaiso to let them know I would not be showing up that night.
One of my instructors once told me that you train for things you know are going to happen and you educate yourself for dealing with everything else. I was grateful for the training I had received from instructors who reinforced procedures for landing with no flaps, or with no lights on the field. At the moment when the lights went out I had no idea where I was. I had grown dependent on the GPS. I would like to think I would have found my way home, but without the GPS I don’t know how the night would have turned out. I also now own a hand-held radio and a portable GPS which I carry with me on every flight.
Flight Lesson offers the opportunity for pilots to learn from the experiences of others.
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