Narrative:

I departed on an IFR flight. At approximately 300 - 400 feet AGL; the tower called and advised that they were not picking up my transponder. After several unsuccessful attempts at recycling the transponder; I tried to pull and reset the transponder breaker. At this point the entire electrical system failed and I lost all radio communication. I was approximately 12 miles west of the departure airport and turned around and headed back to the airport. I observed the green light gun signal from the tower and proceeded to a left downwind for runway 28L. Upon turning base; I attempted to lower the flaps with no success; as they are electrically operated. On short final; I realized I would not be able to stop the airplane and executed a go-around. I again picked up a left downwind for runway 28L and extended the downwind to give myself more time to slow the airplane and use a more shallow descent. Upon touching down; I exerted maximum braking pressure to try and bring the airplane to a stop before reaching the runway end. The wheels locked and the plane began to skid so I released pressure to get the wheels rolling again and not lose directional control. The wheels kept locking up intermittently and as I approached the runway end; it was apparent that I would not be able to stop before reaching the end. I swerved to the right to try and avoid the runway end lights but hit one of them with the right main landing gear strut. The airplane came to a stop in the grass approximately 30 yards past the runway end. Minor damage to the right landing gear strut aluminum cover but no damage to the strut itself.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A general aviation pilot reported a transponder problem that led into a complete electrical failure that resulted in a no flap; no radio return to the departure airport.

Narrative: I departed on an IFR flight. At approximately 300 - 400 feet AGL; the tower called and advised that they were not picking up my transponder. After several unsuccessful attempts at recycling the transponder; I tried to pull and reset the transponder breaker. At this point the entire electrical system failed and I lost all radio communication. I was approximately 12 miles west of the departure airport and turned around and headed back to the airport. I observed the green light gun signal from the tower and proceeded to a left downwind for runway 28L. Upon turning base; I attempted to lower the flaps with no success; as they are electrically operated. On short final; I realized I would not be able to stop the airplane and executed a go-around. I again picked up a left downwind for runway 28L and extended the downwind to give myself more time to slow the airplane and use a more shallow descent. Upon touching down; I exerted maximum braking pressure to try and bring the airplane to a stop before reaching the runway end. The wheels locked and the plane began to skid so I released pressure to get the wheels rolling again and not lose directional control. The wheels kept locking up intermittently and as I approached the runway end; it was apparent that I would not be able to stop before reaching the end. I swerved to the right to try and avoid the runway end lights but hit one of them with the right main landing gear strut. The airplane came to a stop in the grass approximately 30 yards past the runway end. Minor damage to the right landing gear strut aluminum cover but no damage to the strut itself.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.