OK, let me try a little heresy...
If you look at the reports of fatal accidents over the last few years, you'll find very few that could have been prevented by a more thorough pre-flight check of the aircraft. That means that either:
a) we're all doing a fantastic job of spotting the potential problems when we do pre-flights
or
b) the value of a pre-flight check of the aircraft is limited in avoiding the fatal accidents
By contrast, many of the fatal accidents
were caused by inadequate preparation by pilots, for example in not understanding what weather to expect, not having a plan to deal with it if it went sour, or not knowing enough about the terrain and obstacles on their planned route if they had to use that backup plan.
I humbly submit therefore, that a more effective course of action for those with limited time for pre-flight planning (does anyone have unlimited time?) is to:
1) check the fuel and oil state and quality
2) check the aircraft doesn't have bits on the outside that it shouldn't have (like pitot covers, control locks and tie-down blocks attached by rope)
3) check the W&B is within limits
and then, instead of counting rivets, retire to the nice warm flight planning room to run through that plan one more time...
Discuss.
