Back in the 1950's I was the squadron QFI on Avro Lincoln maritme reconnaissance aircraft. I was 25 years old at the time and a bit of an eager beaver instructor. . Some of the captains on the squadron were former WW2 Lancaster pilots in their 40's. In our squadron, paper checklists were unheard of. The only checklist was in the head and the before take off checklist was the standard Central Flying School mantra of Harness, Hatches, Hydraulics, Trim, Mixture, Pitch, Fuel, Flaps etc .
I set about to teach our pilots the scan system left to right as used by the airlines. The Lincoln had a supercharger switch on the instrument panel marked MS for medium speed and HS for high speed. It was important to ensure that MS was used for take off since HS could cause engine damage at take off power.
I noticed that some of the ex wartime captains refused to accept the pre-start scan I had introduced. To counter that problem I would quietly move the supercharger switch to the HS position before the captain had taken his seat and see if he picked this up during his pre-start scan. The old and bolds from the 1940's frequently missed the switch during their pre-start checks - particularly when night flying
One night I arrived at the aircraft before the other pilot and went to set the supercharger switch to HS. It was dark in the cockpit as the Lincoln cockpit lighting was notoriously poor. As I went to select the supercharger to HS I felt a sharp prick to my finger. I cursed in the darkness and sucked my finger to stem the blood flow. There was a laugh behind me and it was the old and bold ex Lancaster pilot with a grin all over his face. I shone my torch on to the supercharger switch to discover a drawing pin cellotaped to the switch pointed side sticking out. The old bugger had got to the aircraft before me having heard of my reputation for putting the supercharger switch to HS instead of leaving it on MS the normal position.
He had made his point (pun intended) and I never did that trick again
Last edited by Centaurus; 26th December 2025 at 06:35.