Narrative:

I was showing the aircraft to the new owner. An extensive pre-buy had just been completed, revealing no problems. We took the left engine to full feather as a demonstration of single engine performance. While attempting to restart the left engine, the master electrical solenoid failed (mechanic told me after he inspected the plane) resulting in a total electrical failure. After running all checklists to no avail, we returned to bjc for landing. We observed the traffic pattern, entered on downwind midfield and were given a solid green light on final. When I lowered the landing gear, it shook the solenoid enough to restore our electric power. We landed with the left engine fully feathered without further incident. The cause of the problem was the failure of the master solenoid while attempting to restart the left engine in-flight. Unfortunately, the left engine could not be restarted without power.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LIGHT TWIN PLT WAS UNABLE TO UNFEATHER #1 ENG AFTER TOTAL ELECTRICAL FAILURE.

Narrative: I WAS SHOWING THE ACFT TO THE NEW OWNER. AN EXTENSIVE PRE-BUY HAD JUST BEEN COMPLETED, REVEALING NO PROBS. WE TOOK THE L ENG TO FULL FEATHER AS A DEMONSTRATION OF SINGLE ENG PERFORMANCE. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO RESTART THE L ENG, THE MASTER ELECTRICAL SOLENOID FAILED (MECH TOLD ME AFTER HE INSPECTED THE PLANE) RESULTING IN A TOTAL ELECTRICAL FAILURE. AFTER RUNNING ALL CHKLISTS TO NO AVAIL, WE RETURNED TO BJC FOR LNDG. WE OBSERVED THE TFC PATTERN, ENTERED ON DOWNWIND MIDFIELD AND WERE GIVEN A SOLID GREEN LIGHT ON FINAL. WHEN I LOWERED THE LNDG GEAR, IT SHOOK THE SOLENOID ENOUGH TO RESTORE OUR ELECTRIC PWR. WE LANDED WITH THE L ENG FULLY FEATHERED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. THE CAUSE OF THE PROB WAS THE FAILURE OF THE MASTER SOLENOID WHILE ATTEMPTING TO RESTART THE L ENG INFLT. UNFORTUNATELY, THE L ENG COULD NOT BE RESTARTED WITHOUT PWR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.