Be very careful when pre flighting and confirming that the pitot heat cover has actually been removed. It will depend on the aircraft type and the checklist, as you can easily end up with a very expensive piece of egg on your face
I recently started to taxi out from the ramp having been given an immediate takeoff clearance by ATC ahead of a landing heavy jet and as I began to transit from the hover to forward flight I noticed that there was an unusual orange flag flying in front of the windscreen
I happened to be flying an AS350B3 Eurocopter Squirrel, which according to the standard Eurocopter checklist requires that the Pitot heat is switched on as the caution panel will show an amber "Pitot" caution if left off.
Ordinarily I live with the caution warning but I decided to switch it on for that flight as I was doing some low level work and didn't want the distraction on the panel.
I immediately switched off the Pitot, told ATC I was aborting and made a fast return to the ramp. One of our engineers ran up and saw the flag and started to remove the cover. He left a trail of molten plastic over the pitot, but luckily there was no major melting and the pitot opening was unaffected.
I had done a walk around in the hangar and another just prior to start while having a chat with the engineer and we both missed the cover
If I had actually gotten airborne and had not immediately noticed that the cover was on there would have been a large lump of molten plastic in the pace of the cover!!! Try explaining that to your chief pilot and senior engineer.
Always CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!
A2B Ferry I would not take any of the comments given personally but I am with mad_jock, ChampChump, Poltergeist and Pilot DAR on the need to learn to fly by feel and visual references.
And I would apply it to both fixed wing and rotary. I certainly do not regard myself as a dinosaur using old fashioned instructional techniques but I was taught by my instructors to fly by feel and alway taught my ab-initio students and expected my experienced pilots on annual or recurrent training to be able to fly without reference to the panel, both Day and Night. It is not a black art, but good airmanship.
If you intend to gain an instrument rating you will also be expected to be able to fly partial panel approaches, under the hood with multiple instrument failures.
Go and do a couple of hours with a competent instructor and practice circuits and PFL's by feel and visual clues and you will leave with a smile on your face and your flying skills greatly enhanced
