As a student pilot, one of the first things I had to do was develop checklists for the airplane I was flying. I had a pre-flight checklist, a before take-off checklist, a take-off checklist, a cruise checklist, a descent checklist, a landing checklist, and an emergency operations checklist. In all, they filled several pages.
Since I've had my license, I think I could count on one hand the number of times I've used those checklists. I guess I'm just lazy.

I was taught to fly by my grandfather, who had in each of his planes a very brief take-off checklist and another equally brief list for landing. They were adequate to keep him out of trouble for the 50+ years that he spent flying.

I can surely see the benefits of some kind of checklist, and am curious what kind of list most of you guys use. How detailed should a checklist really be?

I got a reminder last week coming back from Reno. Ever so slowly MP dropping, I kept pushing the throttle in.

Then the light came on. I am getting carb ice. Pulled the carb heat with the result you would expect. Readjusted the throttle and it was 1/2" further back.

I'm pretty sure if I had tried to land and didn't use carb heat it would have died.

Reminder to self. Look at the check list like I learned in flight school!

Rob

I got my tickets pretty much the standard way, but I really learned about flying from my Dad, an old fighter pilot.

His view on checklists was to use them, but to go a step further. Checklists, mis-used, can have a bad "leveling" effect. Every item on the checklist can take on the same importance. So, on landing, ensuring that you're on the fullest tank can have the same importance as putting the gear down. (Again, on a checklist used by rote as opposed to thoughtfully.) Missing one of those (gear down) will cause you to crash every time. Missing the other will almost never cause a problem.

What he taught me was: 1) Use the checklist. 2) Know what is absolutely critical for your phase of flight, and make sure you double/triple check that item (like gear down).

His other favorite saying was "always know which way your airplane's pointed". Basic, but pretty darn important!

--Tony

I like checkmate, The Most Endorsed Pilot Checklist System In Aviation. Over 285 models of aircraft available in various formats.

http://www.checkmateaviation.com/

Personally I use it for preflight, run up, and TO. Landing I use LCGUMPS and occasionally I skip something like flaps up. Human beings make mistakes!
It is a discipline!
After landing clean up, counter clock wise Flaps, trim, mixture, Xsponder, radio to ground, carb heat( if applicable), open window.

I Pipers because. like the Army, important stuff is written on the panel. I don't like personal limitations preventing learning new techniques, but we have to make logical decisions about our multitask ability. I flew simple airplanes and helicopters because I was not very organized. The very best check that saved me the most tin and skin was a second pilot. Automation requires organizational oversight and confuses me, but a kid who knows how to work the stuff is wonderful. And it is nice now that the kid is PIC.

Checklists can be life savers. That said, they are for use during evolutions where you have TIME to use them.

BUT, when your engine quits at less than 1000 feet…..that’s not the time to drag out a checklist.

So, you need to develop “FLOWS”. A Flow is a series of checks appropriate to a particular evolution or event. Flows need to be memorized and practiced…..and backed up by a checklist.

Example: An engine failure flow might be something like:

Fuel selector: switch, Carb Heat: Hot, Mags: Left only, right only, Both, And finally: Turn to a selected landing site.

The reason it’s called a “Flow” is that the items in a flow should be arranged in a sequence that starts in one spot and “flows” across (or around, or…) the cockpit.

I use flows ALL the time. In my plane, my before takeoff and before landing flows are identical:

Fuel selector: Both. (Selector is on tunnel between seats, so right hand feels it in proper position….no eye movement required).

Trim: Set (appropriate to evolution, and it’s just fwd. of selector)

Flaps: Set (just fwd of trim wheel)

Mixture: Set. (Not necessarily full rich if at high DA, and knob is farthest right of engine controls)

Prop: Fine pitch. (Prop lever is just left of mixture)

Carb Heat: as appropriate. (Just above and left of prop knob.)

Mags: On Both. (Just left of engine controls)

So, this flow starts on the floor to right of my seat, then forward, then directly up to farthest right control, then across to left.

This flow covers all the essential items in a sequence that’s easy to follow and recall. Repetition for every takeoff or landing builds it into your memory.

THEN if you have time, verify with a paper list.

So, you ask, “What about lights, or seat belts or……”. Lights on or off won’t kill me. Seat belts/harness should have been done already…..another checklist or flow?

Pre flight checklists: These things are great the first few (or many if like me you’re a slow learner) times you fly a particular plane, but after a while, this too becomes a flow.

Now, don’t assume that just because it says “Cessna 172” on the side that all 172s are the same. Example: late (R and S) model 172s have, what? 16 fuel drains……. So, be sure you’re “speaking the right language” for the specific plane you’re flying that day.

But, flows simplify the checklist conundrum and speed evolutions WHERE APPROPRIATE.

So, next time you’re around your plane, sit in the drivers seat, take out the checklist, and figure out some appropriate flows for different evolutions: Before takeoff, before landing, engine out, etc.

Now, when you’re flying, practice those flows, each time VERIFYING with checklist, until the flows are natural.

Finally, this applies to both flows and checklists: It’s really easy to Touch a control, read from a checklist or say what you’re checking out loud on a flow, but to not actually VERIFY the position of that control.

So, a flow should entail put your hand on the control, THINK: “is this in the correct position?”, then move on.

This is NOT rote stuff.

Include in flows only essential stuff. Leave non essentials to printed checklist.

Practice them.

MTV

Flows and immediate memory items are the bread & butter of larger, multi-systems airplanes and are then followed up with a checklist to confirm compliance. Flows; to be effective, need to follow a logical pattern as MTV has pointed out. This aids in the timely completion during momments of "need".

Mapleflt wrote:Flows and immediate memory items are the bread & butter of larger, multi-systems airplanes and are then followed up with a checklist to confirm compliance. Flows; to be effective, need to follow a logical pattern as MTV has pointed out. This aids in the timely completion during momments of "need".

Yeah, the way it was taught to me was that they are "checklists" not "do lists". You should know everything on them and not need them, but use them as backup in case you missed a step for some reason.

mtv wrote:Checklists can be life savers. That said, they are for use during evolutions where you have TIME to use them.

BUT, when your engine quits at less than 1000 feet…..that’s not the time to drag out a checklist.

So, you need to develop “FLOWS”. A Flow is a series of checks appropriate to a particular evolution or event. Flows need to be memorized and practiced…..and backed up by a checklist.

Example: An engine failure flow might be something like:

Fuel selector: switch, Carb Heat: Hot, Mags: Left only, right only, Both, And finally: Turn to a selected landing site.

The reason it’s called a “Flow” is that the items in a flow should be arranged in a sequence that starts in one spot and “flows” across (or around, or…) the cockpit.

I use flows ALL the time. In my plane, my before takeoff and before landing flows are identical:

Fuel selector: Both. (Selector is on tunnel between seats, so right hand feels it in proper position….no eye movement required).

Trim: Set (appropriate to evolution, and it’s just fwd. of selector)

Flaps: Set (just fwd of trim wheel)

Mixture: Set. (Not necessarily full rich if at high DA, and knob is farthest right of engine controls)

Prop: Fine pitch. (Prop lever is just left of mixture)

Carb Heat: as appropriate. (Just above and left of prop knob.)

Mags: On Both. (Just left of engine controls)

So, this flow starts on the floor to right of my seat, then forward, then directly up to farthest right control, then across to left.

This flow covers all the essential items in a sequence that’s easy to follow and recall. Repetition for every takeoff or landing builds it into your memory.

THEN if you have time, verify with a paper list.

So, you ask, “What about lights, or seat belts or……”. Lights on or off won’t kill me. Seat belts/harness should have been done already…..another checklist or flow?

Pre flight checklists: These things are great the first few (or many if like me you’re a slow learner) times you fly a particular plane, but after a while, this too becomes a flow.

Now, don’t assume that just because it says “Cessna 172” on the side that all 172s are the same. Example: late (R and S) model 172s have, what? 16 fuel drains……. So, be sure you’re “speaking the right language” for the specific plane you’re flying that day.

But, flows simplify the checklist conundrum and speed evolutions WHERE APPROPRIATE.

So, next time you’re around your plane, sit in the drivers seat, take out the checklist, and figure out some appropriate flows for different evolutions: Before takeoff, before landing, engine out, etc.

Now, when you’re flying, practice those flows, each time VERIFYING with checklist, until the flows are natural.

Finally, this applies to both flows and checklists: It’s really easy to Touch a control, read from a checklist or say what you’re checking out loud on a flow, but to not actually VERIFY the position of that control.

So, a flow should entail put your hand on the control, THINK: “is this in the correct position?”, then move on.

This is NOT rote stuff.

Include in flows only essential stuff. Leave non essentials to printed checklist.

Practice them.

MTV

^That

Also the checklist needs to follow the flow

Good read on design and usage

https://ti.arc.nasa.gov/m/profile/adega ... klists.pdf

I agree with the idea of flows as a priority over paper lists. When I was a fledgling CFI I was still of a mind to use multi page checklists. Experience over the next several hundred hours taught me that we tend to mutter and slide our finger down the list - and still miss things.

I still made a detailed checklists for everything I flew. When I got to the BT-13 I was happy with the way it turned out - and then the damn thing got sucked out the open canopy shortly after getting airborne. Hadn't been a problem in the Wichita built planes I had flown previously.

By the time I got to the T-6 I made a customized checklist like I always do, and then I turned it into a flow. Everything from starting the engine to an engine failure starts at my left hip, then goes forward and across to the right (primer).

Now as a CFI I can't exactly toss checklists aside and use a flow for everything. So I do my preflight using a flow, then pull my checklist and go down it looking for anything I missed. I do the same for "before takeoff". Unlike the mumble and slide your finger method, I find this really does cause missed items to jump off the page. In a plane like the T-6 all my pattern work is done by flow and power settings. There is no time to consult a paper checklist (plus, the canopy is open...)

I do not have checklists for climb, cruise or descent. My paper lists for the Mooney, Arrow, Cardinal RG, 210 etc still have those sections for purposes of instruction but I feel you should outgrow those quickly.

Funny story, I once flew the BT to Minnesota to get the tanks resealed. On the way back my significant other agreed to ride with me. It was early October and she was freezing in the back as we crossed South Dakota. Flying along at my customary cruise altitude of 1000' AGL I experienced an almost complete loss of power. Now, Ray Charles could land a plane in that part of SD (it would take dumb luck to even hit a fence post) but it was still an emergency.

I was super proud of myself for the speed at which I went through my flow. I was done before my brain even caught on that I should start. The tanks were switched, carb heat was on, oil temp and pressure were still good, etc. No change in power. My eye came back to the throttle. I was seriously lacking in manifold pressure and as I looked at the throttle I realized that I never look at it. We put our hand on the throttle but we watch the manifold pressure gauge. It was at about the 40% position.

I certainly hadn't bumped it, so I asked if she might have. No response, so back to rule #1 (fly the biggest chunk to the ground). I didn't want to hurt the engine but I didn't have much to lose. I added some power and in a few seconds everything was fine.

I turned around in my seat and there she was, trying to situate herself so she could sit on her feet and get them warmed up. Her headset was off but when she saw me looking she put it back on. When asked if she might have bumped the throttle she said "Oh that? I might have". We stopped at Rapid City for the night and bought her some warmer clothes.

"Oh that?"
Too funny.

Important thing about checklists are to use them as checklists, not as do-lists. Therefore, develop and use flows. It is important to learn the basic configuration gotchas so a simple checklist item doesn't cause an accident, and you can't do that if you are wedded to a checklist.

In the 180, the only checklist I use is the Before Takeoff checklist. Before I run it, I do my 4-step Before Takeoff flow:

1. Interior check: right door handle, fuel selector, flaps, trim, cowl flaps, tailwheel lock, parking brake, pilot seat locked, left door handle
2. Flight control check: box them, checking for freedom of movement and proper direction
3. Panel check: top left to bottom right. Bugs, frequencies, gauges, transponder, etc.
4. Run up: 1700 RPM, the usual stuff

Once that's all done, I get out the checklist. Everything else is done on a nemonic. GUMP before landing (Gas, Undercarriage/flaps, Mixture, Prop), and REMMM for shut down (Radios, electronics, mixture, mags, master).

As an added point, I try to eliminate gotchas at every turn. For example, I read about a 172 pilot that blindly followed the checklist and lowered the flaps to 40 for the preflight. Guess what? He forgot to retract them, maybe because it wasn't in the checklist or maybe because his phone rang at the wrong time, and tried to takeoff with flaps still at 40. He crashed on takeoff and all four people onboard died. Me? I set my flaps to the takeoff setting for preflight, so I don't have to move them again.

You'll probably never die because you take off with your transponder off. But if you take off with the fuel selector off or the trim out of whack or the flaps at full or the control lock installed you just might. Learn to focus on those few killer items, and use a checklist to back yourself up.

I enjoy using MiraCheck. www.MiraCheck.com

Best,

Tommy

Good to hear from you Tommy. How did the instrument training go?

For the stuff we fly....flow plus an essentials written on the instrument panel - as contactflying already mentioned.

Even on something as complex as an S92 the complete checklist from start to shutdown was only a single sheet of paper.

Yeah, I've seen Tolstoy's "War and Peace" used by some fervent flight schools.

Karmutzen wrote:For the stuff we fly....flow plus an essentials written on the instrument panel - as contactflying already mentioned.

Even on something as complex as an S92 the complete checklist from start to shutdown was only a single sheet of paper.

Yeah, I've seen Tolstoy's "War and Peace" used by some fervent flight schools.

Agreed 100% here.

More words on the paper doesn’t make it better.

100% Concur on Checklist... not just do lists... couple other things to consider.

Checklists...I'll be honest, I almost never use them and stick to flow... especially for all VFR flights in the wagon. That being said, for when I use it, I actually like making mine - it makes sure the content is relevant, and it fits the mods done to the plane over the years. I keep 2 types:
1) I have one more complete one for the back of the seat (1st two pages of attachment)... this rarely, rarely, rarely sees the light of day.
2) A second (last page of the attachment )that I use when planning an IFR flight when needed and fits easily on a kneeboard when printed out with 2 pages per side. It fits on a kneeboard with 1 front and back folded page - page 1 with the mission and key action flows, and page 2 with the emergency checklists.

I'm also a big fan of the concept of "bold face" taught in military flying. I.e. memorize the time critical steps of your emergency procedures, and be able to do them immediately... then follow up with the checklist once you've done so. I haven't made these procedures representative of that... but it's a huge boost to safety for scenarios like mentioned above.