A C208 pilot reported an electrical smell after takeoff which he could not identify; but he lost the...

Narrative:

I was assigned to fly a C-208. I had a company field inspector in the jumpseat and preflight went well. Fuel had 100 pounds heavier in left tank than right; which is in 200 pounds out of balance tolerance. I taxied to runway xxr and did my before takeoff check. After climbout; I was handed off to departure and given direct. It was after that the GPS/communication 1 screen went blank and there was a smell but no smoke. The jumpseater suggested the avionics fan going bad as from his previous experience. I searched for a circuit breaker for the avionics fan but could not see it at that time (it is on bottom row). I turned off avionics switch #1 for a quick solution. During this time I must have been going to the right off course. I am now flying by hand holding altitude and heading. I noticed I now needed to correct my fuel balance which is nearing 200 pounds. I turned off the right fuel selector switch and the left low fuel annunciator light came on as well as the right fuel sel off annunciator light comes on in level flight. I reopened and tried to close again without success. I was now looking for the VOR frequency from my approach book that I had between the seats. Again; I was flying by hand holding altitude and heading. This is when departure called and said it appears you are heading southeast and suggested a heading of 060 degrees. As I was turning left I now noticed my heading gyro was not turning due to avionics 1 off. I regrouped; took control of the airplane being VFR stayed on that heading. I found; tuned and identified the VOR. I force fuel from left wing by giving more right aileron and left rudder; annunciator lights stayed off. I was handed off to approach; requested weather being only one communication radio. They gave me a visual approach to runway xy; (I backed it up with ILS xy) and contacted tower. Landing was a normal and uneventful.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C208 Pilot reported an electrical smell after takeoff which he could not identify; but he lost the GPS. At cruise a fuel crossfeed problem prevented normal crossfeed operation so he used aileron and an aircraft side slip to force fuel out of the heavy tank.

Narrative: I was assigned to fly a C-208. I had a Company Field Inspector in the jumpseat and preflight went well. Fuel had 100 LBS heavier in left tank than right; which is in 200 LBS out of balance tolerance. I taxied to Runway XXR and did my before takeoff check. After climbout; I was handed off to departure and given direct. It was after that the GPS/COM 1 screen went blank and there was a smell but no smoke. The jumpseater suggested the avionics fan going bad as from his previous experience. I searched for a CB for the avionics fan but could not see it at that time (it is on bottom row). I turned off Avionics Switch #1 for a quick solution. During this time I must have been going to the right off course. I am now flying by hand holding altitude and heading. I noticed I now needed to correct my fuel balance which is nearing 200 LBS. I turned off the right fuel selector switch and the left low fuel annunciator light came on as well as the right fuel SEL OFF annunciator light comes on in level flight. I reopened and tried to close again without success. I was now looking for the VOR frequency from my approach book that I had between the seats. Again; I was flying by hand holding altitude and heading. This is when Departure called and said it appears you are heading southeast and suggested a heading of 060 degrees. As I was turning left I now noticed my heading gyro was not turning due to Avionics 1 off. I regrouped; took control of the airplane being VFR stayed on that heading. I found; tuned and identified the VOR. I force fuel from left wing by giving more right aileron and left rudder; annunciator lights stayed off. I was handed off to Approach; requested weather being only one communication radio. They gave me a visual approach to Runway XY; (I backed it up with ILS XY) and contacted Tower. Landing was a normal and uneventful.

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.

Attributes
ACN	885078
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Caravan Undifferentiated
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel Crossfeed
Person 1
Function	Captain Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Flight Engineer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 29 Flight Crew Total 4157 Flight Crew Type 371
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Track / Heading All Types
Miss Distance	Vertical 2.0

A C208 pilot reported an electrical smell after takeoff which he could not identify; but he lost the GPS. At cruise a fuel crossfeed problem prevented normal crossfeed operation so he used aileron and an aircraft side slip to force fuel out of the heavy tank.