... no... it wasn't me... maybe it was "Chuck" ? 
sounds like something Chuck would do...
And there I was in a Cessna 152. . .
. . . over Ventura, California at night when all my electrics went out. I think I was trying to turn on or off the landing light when everything went dark. I was just a little private pilot then trying to build some night time. The adrenaline went up a little at that point, but I did have a few flashlights with me like my instructor always taught me (thanks Andrea!). I kind of sat on a big mag-lite and let it shine through my legs onto the instrument panel. I thought I was set. Actually I was pretty proud of myself and even contemplated trucking on but changed my mind after I came to my senses again.
Then I thought of squawking 7600 and returning to the airport since I knew I wouldn't be able to talk to the tower, but then fellt silly when I realized that the transponder wouldn't be working either without any electrical power. Then I thought I didn't even need to talk to anybody anyways because it was past 2200LCL and the tower was already closed for the night.
"Cool" I said to myself "that way I don't have to go though all the emergency procedures and there will be no other traffic anyways!"
But when I got back to Camarillo (CMA) I realized that I wouldn't be able to turn on the runway lights either without my radios. No I was suddenly wishing for some traffic. There wasn't any.
As I circled just north of the airport I made some calculations. I figured I had about 2hrs of fuel left before I had to fly to Santa Barbara, which I was sure had a lit runway at night. But did I really want to fly into Class C without any radio or transponder? I kept that as my last option. Then I thought about making a low approach over the dark hole where I knew the runway was but tossed that idea out since it seemed pretty dangerous and stupid.
I just kept circling, but got a little nervous after an hour or so. Luckily a plane showed up then and turned on the runway lights. And you better believe I was right at their tail (as much as you can be "right at somebodys tail" in a C-152) to make sure I'd land before the lights go back out.
They never even knew I was there. A small "stealth" C-152 completely dark like in a James Bond movie...
I made a beautiful landing and taxied back to the FBO.
I just parked the plane and went home pretty pissed off at the electrical system. It wasn't until the next day when I told the story and got all those "oh-my-god-what-did-you-do-to-get-out-of-this-emergency!!" reactions that I knew I now had my first very own
"So, there I was..." story to tell!
