Picture this. I'm sitting in the right seat of Richard Collins' Cessna 210 about to give him his flight review (née Biennial Flight Review, BFR). I'll admit I'm a bit intimidated. I'd really like to be able to make the review have some value for Richard, but I know that the idea I can actually find something to correct is as likely as my winning the Red Bull Air Race tour. But then as he gets ready to start the engine, I think, aha, I've found something to gig him on!
As we buckled our seat belts and settled in, I noticed he didn't get out a checklist. I restrained myself from pumping my fist in the air in victory, but I did smile smugly to myself. "I notice," I said, "you're not using a checklist. It's important to use a checklist so you don't miss anything," I said, sounding more pompous than I intended.
Richard wasn't chagrined. He responded by saying something like, "You're absolutely right. It is important to use a checklist. But you're wrong that I'm not using one."
"Huh?"
Turned out Richard used his panel itself as the checklist. Starting at the lower left corner he touched each item as he moved across the panel and down the pedestal checking them off.
I conceded the point. He uses a checklist, it's just not portable.
Checklists are important. In fact the Practical Test Standards (PTS) for the private pilot's license under "Applicant's Use of Checklists" states: "Throughout the practical test, the applicant is evaluated on the use of an appropriate checklist. Proper use is dependent on the specific TASK being evaluated. The situation may be such that the use of the checklist, while accomplishing elements of an Objective, would be either unsafe or impractical, especially in a single-pilot operation. In this case, a review of the checklist after the elements have been accomplished would be appropriate. Division of attention and proper visual scanning should be considered when using a checklist … ."
In preparing for the practical flight test all of us had to be aware of the importance of using checklists. If not, we likely wouldn't have been able to convince the examiner of our ability to safely operate an airplane.
Most Pilot's Operating Handbooks (POHs) come with checklists for each phase of flight: preflight, engine start, run-up, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, pre-landing and shutdown. Typically there's a special section of the POH that addresses a wide range of emergencies. In addition to the checklists provided by the airplane manufacturers there are a number of companies that offer laminated, spiral-bound, airplane-specific checklists. And many pilots have designed their own checklists. A number of the new multifunction displays have a checklist function that can be accessed as soon as the ship's power is turned on. But, what's important is not the origin -- or presentation -- of the checklist but that it's used. Used religiously.
Richard's use of the panel is perfectly acceptable. In fact, I use my Cardinal's airframe as the checklist for my walk-around inspection. As I move around the airplane I trail my hand along the fuselage touching each item as I complete the check.
The airlines use a challenge and response system of working through a checklist. The copilot calls out an item, the pilot checks the item and responds out loud. There's no reason why we can't ask a passenger to read the checklist as we check the items and respond. Even alone in the airplane, saying each item aloud as it's completed makes it less likely you'll miss something.
Anytime you're interrupted or distracted at some point in a checklist it's important to go back to a point you know for sure you completed and pick it up from there. A call from a controller that interrupts a cockpit cleanup after departure has more than once resulted in a failure to close the cowl flaps, to delay adjusting the mixture and even raising the takeoff flaps.
Whenever you do something out of sequence it's imperative to go back to be sure you haven't skipped a step. Once, on a very frigid day, after preheating the airplane in the hangar I pulled it out and did the walk-around. Normally I remove the cowl plugs early in the preflight, but because it was so cold, I decided to leave the plugs in to retain as much of the heat under the cowl as I could. My plan was to remove the plugs after I completed the rest of the walk-around. I was about half an hour out from my first fuel stop when I suddenly realized I'd never removed the cowl plugs. Oops.
When Robert Goyer and I were doing a photo shoot of ground shots of a new Piper Saratoga we used a towbar to reposition the airplane. The pictures were of close-up details so there was no need to remove the towbar from the nosewheel. Finished with the last setup of the day, we climbed aboard to depart. Suddenly the airport manager came racing out in a car. As he pulled up in front of us he pointed at the nosewheel. We knew instantly what we were about to do to a brand-new Saratoga. Oops.
