Cessna 180 Skywagon
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40; Flight Crew Total 14000; Flight Crew Type 4000
ATC Issue All Types; Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
General None Reported / Taken
Aircraft
We departed OSH and climbed to 11;500; direct to Gary Indiana; and then direct to Cincinnati Lunken Airport. Although we were over the Chicago Class B Airspace I called Chicago Approach Control for advisories. They gave us a squawk code that began with a '6' and we complied. The Controller wasn't receiving a return; but when we ident'd as requested; he said he 'had us.'Then the transponder went off the air as well as the Garmin 430. I checked circuit breakers and then the ammeter which showed a discharge. On the remaining operating communications radio (KX-155) I told Chicago we wanted to cancel radar advisories. At that point I wasn't sure if we had a generator failure or not. The weather was clear with unlimited ceiling and visibility. We shut down all electrical equipment except for the battery operated Garmin 696; conserving the ship's battery power for our landing at Lunken. We started a slow descent at about Kokomo to be under the floor of the Cincinnati Class B airspace when we arrived in the Cincinnati area.I turned the King radio on to get the Lunken ATIS; turned it off; planning to turn it on again near Lunken. We proceeded under the Cincinnati Class B airspace toward Lunken Airport and; when I tried to turn the radio back on; found it had failed. We neared Lunken and I called the Tower on the telephone (cell phone) and advised them of our problem. The Controller cleared us to land on Runway 21L and we did so without incident. I called the Tower when we reached the hangar.When I got home; there was a phone message from Chicago Center and the Controller said he wasn't sure if I was the pilot of [the offending aircraft]; but they wanted to make sure we'd gotten on the ground safely. I called back and talked to a Supervisor who said there was 'no problem'. He said they had mistakenly shown us as being IFR; but he knew we had cancelled. We never were IFR...we were outside the [Class B airspace] (over it) at 11;500; and had asked for VFR traffic advisories.
Cessna pilot experiences a generator failure at 11;500 FT over ORD Class B. The flight continues to destination after canceling flight following with ATC and turning off most electrical equipment. An uneventful landing ensues using a cell phone for landing clearance.