When I was 17 and learned to fly I always had to say "check QFU" when aligning for takeoff, which meant I had to check magnetic compass and directional gyro that it was approximately runway heading. My instructor told me it was a good habit to get when the time would come to learn IFR (which I never did). It is the same as "left/right turn, opposite bal, attitude stable" during taxi turns to check attitude and turn indicators, that also came during the first IFR lessons.