Radio Failure
After the last lesson I went on another flight, and something went wrong. I was about ten miles from home and had just been told by Approach to go on my own when both radios suddenly went out. For a second I thought the electrical system had failed, but the GPS was still running off the cigarette lighter.
Both radios were dark as if there was no power. I turned them both off and back on. Number two (the older one) came back, but the other didn’t. After putting the plane away I tried the radios again with the same results. I felt around the back for any loose connections, but didn’t find anything obviously wrong.
I had already made an appointment today with another avionics shop to get my first VOR checked, so I had them look at the radio. Luckily it was just a blown fuse inside the radio, so it was a minor (cheap) repair job.
The bad news was that 15 degrees off is the best they can do with the VOR. It’s an old Narco model, maybe as old as the plane, which can’t easily be fixed since parts for it are no longer made. I can get a newer model installed, but it will be expensive.
