Alternator failure flying home from Thanksgiving

[rv8ch]

Originally Posted by Ed_Wischmeyer

...
And, as mentioned in the narrative, this situation was surprisingly stressful. So I managed stress by going to the most familiar airport, and that also reduced workload.

Ed, could you please go into this a bit more? I'd like to understand why this was a stressful event for you. I have not had this kind of failure and would like to learn from your experience.

[Plummit]

Originally Posted by RV8iator

It's an RV9, not a space shuttle. My RV8 is extremely comfortable at 500 feet. Apples and apples.

Can you hand-prop your -8? With one hand? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMpfA9n2jY
Different aircraft for different missions.

-Marc

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

Originally Posted by rv8ch

Ed, could you please go into this a bit more? I'd like to understand why this was a stressful event for you. I have not had this kind of failure and would like to learn from your experience.

What were the stress factors? Good question…
* Startle factor. It’s real.
* Possibility of an electrical fire, and the need for a precautionary off-airport no-flap landing. I practice no-flap landings in the RV-9A, so I know what they’re like.
* The realization that if I did an approach to an enroute airport, got low, put down full flaps for landing and the airport was at the last moment unsuitable, I might really have my hands full, so better to stay at altitude.
* Remembering how much of a pain it was to set power with no engine instruments and a constant speed prop during an improvised instrument approach after a simulated full electrical failure. Again, practice let me make better decisions in this situation.
* Keeping ATC informed when I was about to disappear from radar.
* Possible consequences of continuing the flight with no transponder and especially with no ADS-B out. The FAA has draconian rules about flying without ADS-B out, and not many know about those.
* Age. I’m 73, somehow, and get rattled more easily. Stick and rudder skills are still up to par, SA and knowledge are good, but starting to see mild cognitive decline around the edges in things like multi-tasking, distractions, and fixation.

The first thousand hours or so in my logbook document flights before GPS and without LORAN-C. It was paper chart and pilotage, including multiple trips well over a thousand miles, not a big deal when you have the luxury of doing the flight planning on the ground. It wasn’t just me, everybody did it, and all student pilots learned pilotage. My 800 tailwheel hours include a bunch of time in my own RV-8, including coast to coast when I bought it. No flap landings were easy in the -8. There was a bunch of time in 65 HP taildraggers. All of which is to say that I’m completely unimpressed with tailwheel types who boast about how they can fly without GPS when they’ve done all the flight planning before takeoff. Apples to cow pies. Male cow pies.

[Roy Thoma]

Ed,

Thanks for your post. Two things that I noted in your original narrative and possible ways to reduce future stress.


1) You had (manually) loaded your flight plan in the 660. I enjoy having the flight plan from my IFR navigator automatically loaded into my 660 (and a GPSMAP296 before the 660). Simple to wire if you have the bare wire kit from Garmin. Simple to include a "disable" switch for the transfer if you want to use the 660 for "off line" flight planning.

2) You mention the challenge of using a handheld comm and connecting it to an antenna. I have a handheld nav/comm hardwired to comm 1 of my intercom, with a dedicated Bob Archer antenna. Most (all?) intercoms connect comm 1 to the pilot headset when they are off or not powered. Since my intercom only has two comm inputs, I have a separate switch to select between the handheld and my IFR nav/com.

Last note, as the OP of this post you can close it.

Regards,

[RV8iator]

Originally Posted by Plummit

Can you hand-prop your -8? With one hand? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMpfA9n2jY
Different aircraft for different missions.

-Marc

Well, actually I can and have albeit I did use both hands. You’re right, different missions but they are still VERY BASIC airframes. Very basic flying abilities will handle both. Smart? Your call but if proper precautions are taken and you have experience and are comfortable doing it, it still works.

I’m not disparaging anything or anyone here, but losing an alternator in VFR flying over the SE United States is not something that should cause great concern.

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

Thanks to all for the good comments and discussions, but I think this thread has pretty much run its course, as evidenced by the increasing number of not quite on-topic comments.

I'll post the cause of the alternator failure (or whatever it was) in a separate thread, once the facts are known.

Thanks again!

Ed