While leaving IDA on Sunday I had a radio failure. Got out to the runway and couldn't hear what the tower was saying; they could hear me but all I heard was static. They start flashing the light at me and I'm thinking, crap, I have no idea what that means Luckily I go the radio going and they let me take off. Figured out it was a dead battery on my intercom

I'm gonna bush up and put a cheat sheet in the plane.

Light signals, and squawk codes... Never can remember which is what. Think they sell a small sticker that has 'em on it. Most airplanes I've flown have it stuck on the window post.

Gump

whee wrote:...put a cheat sheet in the plane.

There is a cheat sheet on my knee board that is the only way I remember.

Cheat sheet on the back of my checklist card.

I had just reviewed that before my first solo. The instructor got out of the champ and said to take it around three times. On the first t & g the radio quit and the tower brought me in with lights. Instructor shouted that he had said three times and tried to call the tower- oh! I think that I have forgotten what they mean now.

58Skylane wrote:Cheat sheet on the back of my checklist card.

Checklist.......damn, where do you get those

Glad to hear I'm not the only one.

I like the sticker idea. Don't use a checklist or a knee board.

Yeah, if it's not stuck on the airplane where I can see it, I won't be able to find it when I need it.

Gump

Googled it, $1.00 shipping included.
http://www.autorotate.org/portal/Store/tabid/346/CategoryID/3/List/1/Level/1/ProductID/50/Default.aspx

I just try to avoid towered airports all together... they never let me land on the grass

I had the same thing happen to me once. Problem was, the sun was reflecting off the tower window and I couldn't see anything. My radio would transmit but not receive so when I knew no one was coming I just took off. Didn't come back till they were closed.

Next time I went out the tower told me. "I'm glad to see you got your radio fixed!" I wouldn't have know the signals anyway so I bought a knee board that has them on it.

In almost 40 years of flying, I've had to use light gun signals all of once, at CPR years ago, when the entire King stack in the TR182 was fried due to over-voltage. Easy. (And Cessna bought the new stack)

Cary

Last time I did a night flight I couldn't think of the light codes for the life of me. Found them on my iPad the other day, WingX app has 'em on a drop down on the map page along with cloud clearance/vis, transponder codes, etc.

I have an old metal checklist stuck to the visor. I think sportys. it has light gun signals, flt plan sequence, transponder codes and a few other things i can't remember.
If you keep the cheat sheet stuff stuck to the plane somewhere then you don't have to dig for it when you need it...

Terry wrote:Googled it, $1.00 shipping included.
http://www.autorotate.org/portal/Store/tabid/346/CategoryID/3/List/1/Level/1/ProductID/50/Default.aspx

Thanks for the link..... I hit print screen, color printer spit out the page, trimmed the ad to show just the chart, laminated it... It's going in the plane this morning..

When I was in Navy Flight School, they drug some T-28's out of the desert for us to carrier qualify with. Seems our multi-engine trainer for carrier work had become even less safe than an antique trainer my dad instructed in. Well they had tube radios, ARC-27's, good for about 3 hours between failures. So every third or fourth flight you where nordo. Became a real expert with the lights, you did that or joined with another aircraft a did a formation break entry. Since then, I have always carried a hand held radio. It seems every aircraft I acquire or ferry likes to fail a radio for me. I have recently loaded PDF of the Airman's Information Manual into both my iPad and Garmin 796. Nice to have this stuff somewhere, cause if they flashed the lights at me now, I'd have to look it up. Then again I would suspect green was a good thing and red bad.

I was taking an annual evaluation in the UH-60 with an instructor that everyone thought was a real douche. we did an approach into Eielson and he requested a short delay. There were pairs of A-10s, and F-16s, and a KC-135 waiting for takeoff. The instructor told the tower that we were training and we were simulating radio receiver failure requiring light signals. The tower operator actually sighed over the radio and it took a minute to get the light gun out.

That night, all night, air force jets of all kinds did low approaches over the airfield at fort wainwright. I'm convinced it was to get back at us for this instructor being a tool.

Brett

Look at the back of your E-6B?

My MIL-C-5414 CPU 26A/P has 'em!

-Glen

Lost all electrical on left base to final at a nearby airport due to a genterator failure with my six year old riding co-pilot. Instead of shutting down on the ground I left her running and called my home tower on the cell phone. They said no problem, call again three miles out. Made the call, they cleared me to land, no light signals necessary. I did remember them though and told them I'd be ready for them if the need arises. Put a Plane Power in after that!

CW

clippwagon wrote:Lost all electrical on left base to final at a nearby airport due to a genterator failure with my six year old riding co-pilot. Instead of shutting down on the ground I left her running and called my home tower on the cell phone. They said no problem, call again three miles out. Made the call, they cleared me to land, no light signals necessary. I did remember them though and told them I'd be ready for them if the need arises. Put a Plane Power in after that!

CW

Hmm...... Hadn't thought about using the cell phone as a back up.