Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
Enroute to ZZZ from [home airport] about 20 minutes out. PIC smelled something burning and immediately did a 180 for home. Called tower at [home airport] and received landing instructions. At that time a little smoke was noted from under the panel. Close to runway 23 at MMU I opted to call them and land there. I asked MMU tower to notify [home airport]. The gear would not lower. The breaker had popped and the smoke stopped. I pumped the gear down and landed on Runway 5 at MMU. Firemen met me at the FBO at which there was no AP. The gear was down and locked; of course; and the smoke gone. When the heated area under the panel cooled down (about an hour); I opted to fly the aircraft to [home airport] 5 minutes away with the gear down and locked. The short flight was without incident and the plane is in the shop for repair. I have flown for 50 years and felt comfortable with the decision to divert to MMU and to take my plane home safely.
C182RG pilot detects electrical fumes about 20 minutes after takeoff and elects to return to the departure airport. Visible smoke is detected and the decision is made to land at the nearest suitable airport. The gear would not extend normally due to a tripped landing gear circuit breaker and is pumped down. With the circuit breaker tripped the fumes clear and the reporter elects to fly back to his home airport with the gear extended.