Cessna pilot experiences a generator failure at 11;500 ft over ord class B. The flight continues to ...

Narrative:

We departed osh and climbed to 11;500; direct to gary indiana; and then direct to cincinnati lunken airport. Although we were over the chicago class B airspace I called chicago approach control for advisories. They gave us a squawk code that began with a '6' and we complied. The controller wasn't receiving a return; but when we ident'd as requested; he said he 'had us.'then the transponder went off the air as well as the garmin 430. I checked circuit breakers and then the ammeter which showed a discharge. On the remaining operating communications radio (kx-155) I told chicago we wanted to cancel radar advisories. At that point I wasn't sure if we had a generator failure or not. The weather was clear with unlimited ceiling and visibility. We shut down all electrical equipment except for the battery operated garmin 696; conserving the ship's battery power for our landing at lunken. We started a slow descent at about kokomo to be under the floor of the cincinnati class B airspace when we arrived in the cincinnati area.I turned the king radio on to get the lunken ATIS; turned it off; planning to turn it on again near lunken. We proceeded under the cincinnati class B airspace toward lunken airport and; when I tried to turn the radio back on; found it had failed. We neared lunken and I called the tower on the telephone (cell phone) and advised them of our problem. The controller cleared us to land on runway 21L and we did so without incident. I called the tower when we reached the hangar.when I got home; there was a phone message from chicago center and the controller said he wasn't sure if I was the pilot of [the offending aircraft]; but they wanted to make sure we'd gotten on the ground safely. I called back and talked to a supervisor who said there was 'no problem'. He said they had mistakenly shown us as being IFR; but he knew we had cancelled. We never were IFR...we were outside the [class B airspace] (over it) at 11;500; and had asked for VFR traffic advisories.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cessna pilot experiences a generator failure at 11;500 FT over ORD Class B. The flight continues to destination after canceling flight following with ATC and turning off most electrical equipment. An uneventful landing ensues using a cell phone for landing clearance.

Narrative: We departed OSH and climbed to 11;500; direct to Gary Indiana; and then direct to Cincinnati Lunken Airport. Although we were over the Chicago Class B Airspace I called Chicago Approach Control for advisories. They gave us a squawk code that began with a '6' and we complied. The Controller wasn't receiving a return; but when we ident'd as requested; he said he 'had us.'Then the transponder went off the air as well as the Garmin 430. I checked circuit breakers and then the ammeter which showed a discharge. On the remaining operating communications radio (KX-155) I told Chicago we wanted to cancel radar advisories. At that point I wasn't sure if we had a generator failure or not. The weather was clear with unlimited ceiling and visibility. We shut down all electrical equipment except for the battery operated Garmin 696; conserving the ship's battery power for our landing at Lunken. We started a slow descent at about Kokomo to be under the floor of the Cincinnati Class B airspace when we arrived in the Cincinnati area.I turned the King radio on to get the Lunken ATIS; turned it off; planning to turn it on again near Lunken. We proceeded under the Cincinnati Class B airspace toward Lunken Airport and; when I tried to turn the radio back on; found it had failed. We neared Lunken and I called the Tower on the telephone (cell phone) and advised them of our problem. The Controller cleared us to land on Runway 21L and we did so without incident. I called the Tower when we reached the hangar.When I got home; there was a phone message from Chicago Center and the Controller said he wasn't sure if I was the pilot of [the offending aircraft]; but they wanted to make sure we'd gotten on the ground safely. I called back and talked to a Supervisor who said there was 'no problem'. He said they had mistakenly shown us as being IFR; but he knew we had cancelled. We never were IFR...we were outside the [Class B airspace] (over it) at 11;500; and had asked for VFR traffic advisories.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1106665
Time
Date	201308
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZAU.ARTCC
State Reference	IL
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 180 Skywagon
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Instructor Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 14000 Flight Crew Type 4000
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Cessna pilot experiences a generator failure at 11;500 ft over ord class B. The flight continues to destination after canceling flight following with ATC and turning off most electrical equipment. An uneventful landing ensues using a cell phone for landing clearance.