The flight from my eastern Texas home to Grand Rapids, Mich., had been mostly uneventful. Right up until ATC repeated a vector clearance I had read back and was complying with. I tried again, slowly. No response. Clicking the push-to-talk switch on the borrowed Piper Saratoga’s yoke failed to generate a click I could hear in the audio circuit. Just to be sure, another press of the switch failed to illuminate the comm radio’s transmitting indicator.
I reached for the handheld mic mounted below the power quadrant, put it to my mouth and pressed the transmit button. Still nothing.
