Flight Safety Australia article question

[Tee Emm]

Have just received the Sept/Oct issue of FSA. Page 16 has article called "Mags on Both" about a pilot who inadvertently took off on one mag. The analysis by FSA gives a recommended sequence of mag checks. Is this official CASA policy or just someone's perceived good idea. There is no end of perceived good ideas by pilots. The article states "Many pilots do not use the correct technique (of checking mag operation ?)

Its yonks since I flew a Cessna but I thought the the positions of the key starting from the off position being on the left of the switch, then turning the key clockwise from off, next position is Left, then after that is Right then after that is Both. If that is correct, the way I read the description in the FSA article it infers that "two clicks left from Both means the key is on Left magneto. That being so, the article says that makes the left mag inoperative.

I am rusty on this but if the key is on a mag position such as Left does not that mean you are operating on the Left magneto? The article implies with the key on Left the left mag is the one that is switched off. Which is correct?

Also the article states that an aircraft should not hold in the lined up position for pretake off checks unless you have a sound operational reason to do so, such as conducting an over-speed governor check on first flight of the day. I am mystified on this. Why cannot the over-speed governor check be done in the run up bay or holding point clear of the runway.

The analysis by FSA then says "Finally, a check of temps, pressues and RPM" should be checked on the take off roll. Surely this is an overkill. The place to check the temperatures and pressures (oil pressures) is during the run up - not in the middle of a take off. In any case a sudden change of temperature should not be cause for an abort and exactly how much temperature change constitutes an abort decision?

The article seems to indicate the particular Cessna 152 had a cruise prop. This would give a significantly lower minimum static rpm than an aircraft with a normal prop. The article did not say if the pilot was aware of a cruise prop indicating lower RPM - only that one Cessna accelerated slower than his other Cessna. If the take off was on one mag only, chances are the pilot would have not picked the slightly lower RPM than already expected from a cruise prop.