Originally Posted by
EXDAC
Have you read the ACS? Has your instuctor read the ACS? You will not pass an FAA check ride without conspicuous use of a written checklist.
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There is no issue with using flows to configure the aircraft but if you don't follow up with a checklist you will fail. Of course you don't refer to a checklist if the instructor asks you to climb, descend, speed up, slow down, but you do need to for pre-flight inspection, before start, after start, before takeoff, after takeoff. before landing, before shutdown, after shutdown, and for emergencies. With experience in a non-complex aircraft almost all of these can be handled by mnemonics and/or flows but that will not work for an FAA checkride.
Edit to add -
There is a big difference between teaching someone to fly competently and teaching someone to pass a checkride. Some instructors are good at one and some good at the other. You need an instructor who is good at both.
Yes sir, I have read the ACS, which is precisely why I am asking all of these questions.
The thing is, sure, I want to pass my checkride, but I am going to have my family in the plane with me at some point, and eventually, students and the paying public in some form. I also hope to do search and rescue with CAP. I have absolutely zero interest in learning bare minimums.