Battery

It takes a lot of planning and coordination to make a take off on time.

I had tracked the weather for a week and it looked like great conditions for our Mother's Day flight to Atlanta. This is nearly 350 miles and would include one fuel stop. I checked about a dozen candidates before narrowing my choices to a primary and alternate. I rechecked the Navlog many times. We carefully packed our overnight bag with only the essentials and set the alarm to get up early for a 9:00am ETD.  A careful preflight followed by loading the plane had us in the seat ready to start on time!

Click.

The frustration was nearly unbearable. I uttered an expletive. Kathy called the FBO who sent out a service truck. After 45 minutes the charger showed complete but the battery discharged immediately after turning the key. Next we jumped her from a car, she started immediately. I let her run for about 15 minutes hoping the generator would complete a recharge and then shut her down. I sat for moment, held my breath and turned the key. Click. We threw in the towel at 12:00pm, unpacked the plane and put our luggage in the car. We drove to Atlanta (and had a great weekend.)

Monday had me back out to the airport to get the numbers off the battery. I sat in my car and made phone calls to local shops to see if anyone had one in stock. Florida is a land of electric golf carts, shopping buggies and all sorts of other electric vehicles. Autozone had one.

Time for a check flight.

As I taxied to RWY23 a C17 flew overhead on final to MacDill AFB. A Hillsborough Police helicopter was in the landing pattern practicing his technique. It was a beautiful day. Sally performed well.

As I taxied back in a P3 was on final to MacDill. I always view that as a good omen.

Video Notes: Battery Check

Windows 10
Camtasia 8.6