One Thing After Another
I’ve been a pilot for a while. So usually I’m watching the weather for clear skies and good visibility. Now I find it odd that I’m hoping for clouds and poor visibility for better IFR training weather. I want to fly in actual IFR weather, not foggles, with my instructors after all.
So, I was excited about today. A warm front’s coming through. Lots of clouds and poor visibility, but otherwise relatively innocuous. At least compared to cold fronts. As the day wore on it became clear that I was to be frustrated. Good clear flying weather, darn it!
Instructor M and I briefed what we would do - a couple localizer approaches nearby. Then, as a change of pace, I would drop him off at another airport to pick up and fly back a plane just out of maintenance. I would fly back alone in VFR (Visual Flight Rules - clear weather) conditions. It would be my first time alone in a plane for a couple months now. Another guy who parks his plane two spaces down from my club’s plane was also flying up to the same location for similar purposes.
We got in and started up. The high voltage warning light came on as it is supposed to. However, it didn’t go back off quickly as it usually does. I gave it a minute - no change. I used the POH (Pilot’s Operating Handbook) procedure: turn off the master, then turn it back on again. (As a side note, turning off the master switch doesn’t affect the engine, but does affect all the other electronics. The engine’s spark is powered by the two magnetos. The alternator runs the other electronics and charges the battery. You can - and I have - turn off the master switch in flight and the engine works fine.)
No change. Well, if I ran it like this I would boil out the electrolyte from the battery and destroy it at best. At worst I might overheat something and cause a fire. So, we shut down and canceled our flight. M got a lift from our friend also going to the same place.
I think it’s probably the voltage regulator. It was adjusted recently. If it needs adjusting again then it is not staying in tolerance and needs replacement. If it is just broken, it also needs replacement. That’s my guess at least. If the other owners agree, I’ll be talking to the mechanic tomorrow. I’ll see what he thinks.
Later, I got a call from M. Turns out that they got to the other airport, and the plane he wanted to take back was locked in a hangar. No one was around, and no key was available. All for naught. And, when he and our friend came back, they hit IFR conditions and had to air file to get home. So, I would have been stuck there. Or my plane would have, I could have gotten a lift back with our friend.
Some days it’s just one thing after another.
April 17th, 2009 at 13:14
I have a three strikes rule. If I find three items are improper between walking out to the ramp and the take off roll, we put the plane away and don’t fly that day. These are all minor squawk items that alone don’t mean much but together could spell problems. Your high voltage light would not be considered a minor problem! Agree with you that it’s likely the regulator, that’s the only part that can allow high voltage in the first place. Hope it’s not going to be difficult or cost too many AMU’s worth of $$.