Good replies to a fair question! The only thing I would add is that if you are having difficulty getting the BBC World service on HF when far from home, try all 3 SB settings; sometimes, for some inexplicable reason, LSB or AM might work better than USB.
Hey Gaunty, I seem to remember that one of the landing checks on an old radial, sleeve-valve engined aircraft I used to fly went:
'Trailing Aerial....In, Ratchets Selected, Beads Clamped.'
Boy, have things got better!
Cheers
mcdhu