Narrative:

I was cruising level at 8;000MSL in and out of IMC. As I was about to enter another cloud; I turned on my pitot heat and checked the vacuum pressure. I was handed off to approach as I entered the cloud. At that time radio 1 started to flicker on and off. I looked at the alternator load meter and noticed it was showing zero. I immediately informed approach that I was experiencing an electrical problem; and requested permission to descend out of the cloud and asked for vectors to the nearest airport. I was cleared down to 3;000MSL and provided a vector of 140 degrees to the nearest airport. During this time radio 1 stopped functioning. I let approach know that I was heading to the recommended nearest airport. Shortly after this; radio 2 failed. At this time; I squawked 7700 on the transponder; and pressed identify. During my emergency procedures; I noticed a circuit breaker had popped. I reset it; and it popped again. I did not reset it a second time. I entered the traffic pattern at approx 3;000MSL and performed 3 full patterns to check for traffic and determine the wind conditions. I was unable to determine whether the gear was down or not. At this time; I contacted a friend and fellow commercial pilot via cell phone; asking him to contact ATC and get them to get someone on the ground to indicate to me whether the gear was down or not. This proved to be unsuccessful. I noticed several people on the ground as well as a paramedic vehicle. At this time; I opted to leave this divert airport and fly the short distance; a class D airport I was familiar with; and knew to have emergency services and better runway options than where I was. I climbed to 3;800MSL and followed the highway. Enroute I again called my fellow aviator friend via cell phone asking him to contact the class D tower and let them know I was heading for their airport with an electrical failure; and would be landing. On arrival at 3;800MSL; I circled the airport above their airspace twice; looking for light gun signals from the tower. I saw none. I noticed two regional jets on a taxiway holding short. They were both stationary. Not sure whether the tower was holding them for me; and still receiving no light gun signal from the tower; I descended into their airspace to 3;000MSL. I circled the airport twice more. At this time; I noticed the first jet line up on the runway. I now believed that the tower was unaware of my presence. I tightened up my pattern so as not to enter the departure area of the runway; and descended to 2;500MSL. At this time; I noticed a cherokee on short final to a different runway. I then elected to enter the pattern and perform a landing. I did so keeping an eye on the jet for any movement. On final; I glanced at the tower to check one last time for a light gun signal; still nothing. Not sure whether my landing gear was down or not; I prepared for a wheels up landing. Just before crossing the threshold; I noticed the crash/emergency vehicles on taxiway echo near the intersection with taxiway delta. When I touched down on the wheels; I realized that the gear was obviously out. I rolled out and exited runway at taxiway delta; where I was met by the crash/emergency vehicle and a person from the airport authority. I was informed by the person from the airport authority that the gear had not dropped until shortly before touchdown; and that the tower had been unaware of my presence above or in their airspace until I was on short final. After having the airplane towed to the FBO; I called tower and explained to them what had happened. They confirmed that they did not know of my presence above or in their airspace until I was on short final. They told me they had given me a red light signal on short final; which I did not see. There was no damage to the aircraft; or injury to any person. There was at no time any conflict of traffic that caused a threat to the safety of any person or property.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA28 pilot reports electrical failure at 8000 FT and was cleared to descend and vectored toward the nearest airport prior to radio failure. When landing gear position cannot be determined reporter heads to a larger Class D airport with control tower and landed safely. Afterwards it is learned that the gear came into position on very short final.

Narrative: I was cruising level at 8;000MSL in and out of IMC. As I was about to enter another cloud; I turned on my pitot heat and checked the vacuum pressure. I was handed off to Approach as I entered the cloud. At that time radio 1 started to flicker on and off. I looked at the alternator load meter and noticed it was showing zero. I immediately informed Approach that I was experiencing an electrical problem; and requested permission to descend out of the cloud and asked for vectors to the nearest airport. I was cleared down to 3;000MSL and provided a vector of 140 degrees to the nearest airport. During this time Radio 1 stopped functioning. I let approach know that I was heading to the recommended nearest airport. Shortly after this; Radio 2 failed. At this time; I squawked 7700 on the transponder; and pressed IDENT. During my emergency procedures; I noticed a circuit breaker had popped. I reset it; and it popped again. I did not reset it a second time. I entered the traffic pattern at approx 3;000MSL and performed 3 full patterns to check for traffic and determine the wind conditions. I was unable to determine whether the gear was down or not. At this time; I contacted a friend and fellow commercial pilot via cell phone; asking him to contact ATC and get them to get someone on the ground to indicate to me whether the gear was down or not. This proved to be unsuccessful. I noticed several people on the ground as well as a paramedic vehicle. At this time; I opted to leave this divert airport and fly the short distance; a Class D airport I was familiar with; and knew to have emergency services and better runway options than where I was. I climbed to 3;800MSL and followed the highway. Enroute I again called my fellow aviator friend via cell phone asking him to contact the Class D Tower and let them know I was heading for their airport with an electrical failure; and would be landing. On arrival at 3;800MSL; I circled the airport above their airspace twice; looking for light gun signals from the tower. I saw none. I noticed two regional jets on a taxiway holding short. They were both stationary. Not sure whether the Tower was holding them for me; and still receiving no light gun signal from the tower; I descended into their airspace to 3;000MSL. I circled the airport twice more. At this time; I noticed the first jet line up on the runway. I now believed that the Tower was unaware of my presence. I tightened up my pattern so as not to enter the departure area of the runway; and descended to 2;500MSL. At this time; I noticed a Cherokee on short final to a different runway. I then elected to enter the pattern and perform a landing. I did so keeping an eye on the jet for any movement. On final; I glanced at the tower to check one last time for a light gun signal; still nothing. Not sure whether my landing gear was down or not; I prepared for a wheels up landing. Just before crossing the threshold; I noticed the crash/emergency vehicles on Taxiway Echo near the intersection with Taxiway Delta. When I touched down on the wheels; I realized that the gear was obviously out. I rolled out and exited runway at Taxiway Delta; where I was met by the crash/emergency vehicle and a person from the airport authority. I was informed by the person from the airport authority that the gear had not dropped until shortly before touchdown; and that the tower had been unaware of my presence above or in their airspace until I was on short final. After having the airplane towed to the FBO; I called Tower and explained to them what had happened. They confirmed that they did not know of my presence above or in their airspace until I was on short final. They told me they had given me a red light signal on short final; which I did not see. There was no damage to the aircraft; or injury to any person. There was at no time any conflict of traffic that caused a threat to the safety of any person or property.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.