I was taught "Tickle Mary Pickford for forty glorious hours". It was the pre-takeoff checks for the Prentice or Harvard and could be adapted to cover most aircraft. Trims set for take off, mixture rich, pitch fully fine, fuel sufficient and selected, flaps set for takeoff, gills as required (not for the Prentice or Harvard) hood open/closed, hydraulics, harness tight. Of course, you would need to be training in 1950 to know who Mary Pickford was.