Alternator Failure, or Was It?
I had taken off from my local airfield in an Archer III, at night on an IFR plan, to another country airfield. On the way I intended to do a practice ILS approach at the regional airport close by.
When I asked for a clearance into controlled airspace for the ILS the controller couldn't identify me so I headed back to my local field.
That's when the instrument lights starting to dim and I thought I had an alternator failure.
It was not until I had landed that I realised the alternator hadn't failed. I had turned it off!
What?
The Archer III has an overhead panel with toggle switches and the alternator switch is right beside the fuel pump switch. (See the image)
In the dark, climbing out, I had switched off what I thought was the fuel pump and switched off the alternator instead.
No excuses. My fault. But is this good design?
Piper Archer III pilots beware.
I'm interested to know if anyone else has made this mistake.
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