I suppose that the issue for the Human Factors Researchers is not so much "written or memory" as "how do we get people to do stuff consistently (and really do it, not just say they're doing it)?"
I was taught on the basis that I never used a checklist when in flight, save in respect of low-level emergencies such as alternator failure (ie: if something has gone wrong that isn't about to kill you, get out the checklist and read the "how to fix it" procedures). I am broadly in favour of doing all or most checks from memory, particularly on types with which you are familiar. I have in the past caught myself parrotting checks from a written list without really looking at the thing I was supposedly checking, but have equally been guilty of parrotting FREDA checks and pre-landing checks from memory (speaking them but not really doing them). The latter tendency was (mostly) beaten out of me towards the end of my PPL training and when doing some type conversions thereafter. Nowadays I try to make myself point at things as well as saying out loud what I'm supposed to be checking.
For my regular aircraft I use the T-Tiger M-Moths F-Fly G-Good and H-High mnemonic pre take-off (Trim, Throttle Friction, Mixture, Mags, Fuel, Flaps, Gauges, Gyros, Hatches, Harnesses). When I fly other aircaft (the ones I was trained on or flew just after getting my licence), I tend to use the written checklist on the ground only, for start-ups, and have sometimes resorted to post-it notes stuck in front of me saying things like "CARB HEAT!" (as I usually fly fuel injected types) or "FUEL!" (as I usually fly with only one tank, and have to remember if I have two).
I am in two minds about the virtues of practices such as announcing "carb heat negative" when doing run-ups in a fuel injected aircraft, or "gear fixed" when preparing to land in a fixed gear aircraft (although I do both of these). The point here is that reminding myself that I don't need carb heat in an aircraft where I don't need it doesn't necessarily help me to remember that I do need it in an aircraft which where I do. I don't know whether the same would apply in the case of bendy gear as I haven't yet tried that.
PS: Chuck, I agree: where does this "Finals" nonsense come from?
Last edited by FNG; 19th July 2002 at 10:58.