A bit late to this thread but I'm somewhat surprised at the lack of comments regarding checklists. I thought it was just me that didn't use them but I'm obviously in good company here !!
wishing you all safe flying.....
In a silly way mine is an example of not using check lists as all the checks were complete at that stage.
For me you never really now an aircraft until you can fly it without checklists.
This is NOT an arguement for not using checklists but a caution that there are times when for one reason or another you cannot use a checklist and knowing them by heart is a safety backup to using them.
Of course the right way is to know them by heart and use them.
Pace