Good stuff
There is some very valuable information on this thread. It should continue and discuss, among other things.
What IS a checklist? What is it's purpose?
What is a "to do" list, and what is it's purpose?
Should they be the same as what is in the POH/Flight manual? Why?
What about habbits. How do they affect our behaviour? Good or bad?
How can we influence habbits, so they assist us?
What about the "feel" of your aeroplane? (they are all female aren't they?) Can this help?
Do we have enough resources to handle a very complex checklist?
Is the checklist we are using designed to help us. Is it designed to protect others who are not in the aeroplane? Is it designed to make legal processes work if something goes wrong?
How well does the checklist work?
To illustrate some of this.
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I spent a long time flyng Chieftains and we had a 104 item list to get through before takeoff. I think this was a "to do list" and was not really a checklist at all. It also had some "debatable" items like "rotate at VMCA, not below"
Habbits/ feel
I once had to deliver a C310 we had sold, to it's new owner, who also owned a Baron. I had to fly with him, and endorse him in the C310. During this process I noticed that he was trying to syncronise the props using the wrong levers. Barons ARE different, and have throttles in the middle. He was using the HABBITS he had learned in the Baron, in the C310, and it did not work. This is not usually a serious problem, as people seem to learn how to cope with the different power levers fairly quickly, and it's only a nuisance. For emergencies, Beechcraft say "push all six levers fully forward" That simplifies things.
But, too often we see a Baron, or a bonanza on it's belly, because the pilot retracted the gear instead of the flaps, after landing. (the "squat switch" often does not seem to activate until the aeroplane has almost stopped.)
It does not seem to happen with other retractables. (but it could)
But the Barons and Bonanzas are different. They are magnificent aeroplanes, but they have the gear switch and flap switch in what we could call the opposite position to most other aircraft. Not a problem if you only fly Beechcraft, but if you have learned your habbits in other aircraft then those habbits could cause you to retract the gear instead of the flaps. It's easy to do.(no I have not done it) These aeroplanes ARE different, so we need to learn to IDENTIFY the flap lever before activating it. Not just SAY identified, but to Feel it, and Look at it.(Wait till you Do have time). And if possible, wait till you are off the runway, and the squat switch has activated.
It amazes me that this keeps happening, and there do not seem to be any cautions written, or taught. We just let it keep happening. And pay lip service to safety. We seem to be reluctant to acknowledge and deal with a known, fixable problem. I wonder why. Are we too busy writing manuals?
If we feel it, and develope good habbits it will happen less. They are good aeroplanes.
Getting back to the chieftains. One organisation's ops amnual had only one power setting listed, and required pilots to run the engines 100 rich of peak when cruising. They burned lots more fuel than necessary. One senior pilot went to USA and did the flight safety course for chieftains, and they queried him as to why those setting were used. They were different from the settings recomended. So he set up a meeting with Lycoming engineers, and they told him the same.
But nothing changed. The manual was written by people who did not fly the aeroplanes, and did not live where the flying was done.
Pilots were often called on to do long flights, so they used power settings from the makers manuals and got the job done.
The ops manual was not appropriate. It protected the writers, but put extra pressure on the pilots.
Our manuals and checklists need a reality check.