I flew as observer a little while ago, in a country where English is not the language. I was preparing something else when I thought that the pilot was doing the externals, I found out afterwards from a 3rd party that the chap hadn't done any. He certainly didn't do anything in the cockpit, simply started the engine and took off whilst I was waiting for his take-off brief. The take-off run was ludicrously long, we discovered afterwards (when the tyre destroyed itself on the next sortie, taking the nosewheel with it) that the tyre pressure was well below limits.
I have to confess for a preference where it's reasonable to do so to use Mnemonics backed up by an available checklist. Used well they are as thorough, faster, and keep your head outside. However, I'd only do that on a type I know well.
There are a lot of checklists I recently found, downloadable at
http://www.dauntless-soft.com/PRODUC...tes/index.html
G
[This message has been edited by Genghis the Engineer (edited 06 April 2001).]