This occurred on April 17th 2018 while I was training towards my private pilot license.
During today’s flight lesson I encountered my first electrical failure. We began our preflight checks and everything was going as expected with no problems. During our run-up the ammeter needle was working as it should and displayed a positive flow. We taxied to the designated runway and proceeded with our flight.
Our plan for the day was to work on some landings along with a go around at Twin Oaks airport. After overflying Twin Oaks we entered the traffic pattern and performed a go around. Immediately after as we started to gain altitude my flight instructor noticed that the ammeter no longer had a positive charge. At that point our GPS started to flicker on and off. It was obvious at this time that we were experiencing a mechanical failure and we immediately started back to Hillsboro. The next thing we did was to contact tower and upon doing so our radio was beginning to cut out. We were luckily able to let tower know of our situation before the radio cut out completely. Tower gave us priority and we were able to land with no problems. Once on the ground we waited for tower to give us the light gun signals to taxi back to HAA.
During the days flight experience we dealt with the situation at hand and things worked out in our favor. If we were not able to contact Hillsboro tower due to our electrical failure the next step would have been to divert to the nearest uncontrolled airport. Once on the ground we would have called dispatch and would have gone from there. Due to this experience I found that it is so important in these types of situations to remain calm and use the three most important phrases in an emergency situation, Aviate, navigate, and communicate. This flight lesson was unforgettable and very educational.