Narrative:

I was asked to lease my seneca ii to a flight school for training ATP candidates. I learned the ATP curriculum insists on shutting down an engine in flight during the checkride. A senior flight instructor asked me if my seneca was hard to restart in flight; because the one currently in use is difficult to restart. He made several comments to this effect.I have performed one airborne shut down and restart in this airplane with no difficulties; but that was nearly ten years ago during my commercial checkride. I decided it would be more prudent for me to attempt an air start; as opposed to allowing someone unfamiliar with the airplane to attempt it after such a long time. I used the checklist to shut down the left engine. Then; I used the checklist to attempt a restart. After three attempts; my radios flickered; suggesting an electrical problem. Also; on the third attempt; the starter would not turn the prop blades. I noted the prop blades did not unfeather during the attempts to restart.I contacted tower and declared an emergency. On base I attempted to lower the gear; but the gear would not come down. I lowered the gear using the emergency gear extension procedure. Then; the electrical went out completely as I turned base to final. I turned the master switch off and landed the airplane uneventfully. I telephoned the tower and thanked them. They advised they didn't need anything else from me since there had been no deviations.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Prior to leasing his PA34 to a flight school the owner attempted to test the inflight restart procedure to ensure its functionality. After shutting the left engine down the propeller failed to unfeather; the engine failed to restart and the electrical system failed; requiring the landing gear to be manually extended for the following safe landing.

Narrative: I was asked to lease my Seneca II to a flight school for training ATP candidates. I learned the ATP curriculum insists on shutting down an engine in flight during the checkride. A senior flight instructor asked me if my Seneca was hard to restart in flight; because the one currently in use is difficult to restart. He made several comments to this effect.I have performed one airborne shut down and restart in this airplane with no difficulties; but that was nearly ten years ago during my commercial checkride. I decided it would be more prudent for me to attempt an air start; as opposed to allowing someone unfamiliar with the airplane to attempt it after such a long time. I used the checklist to shut down the left engine. Then; I used the checklist to attempt a restart. After three attempts; my radios flickered; suggesting an electrical problem. Also; on the third attempt; the starter would not turn the prop blades. I noted the prop blades did not unfeather during the attempts to restart.I contacted Tower and declared an emergency. On base I attempted to lower the gear; but the gear would not come down. I lowered the gear using the emergency gear extension procedure. Then; the electrical went out completely as I turned base to final. I turned the master switch off and landed the airplane uneventfully. I telephoned the Tower and thanked them. They advised they didn't need anything else from me since there had been no deviations.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.