Writing things down
I recently flew with somebody who writes everything down. Even to the point that recently he had his pen ready as he was pulling off the high speed so he was ready to write down the taxi clearance while he was pilot flying. He is a very good pilot and I'm not criticizing him, but comparing him to myself who relies on short term memory for a lot of instructions.
The purpose of this is to analyze technique and identify any possible hazardous attitudes or techniques to improve safety.
I've flown with a lot of pilots and I would say 70% rely on short term memory for simple taxi clearances and vectors or altitudes. Some start off the day by writing down a simple taxi clearance then after a few hours are doing it by memory.
I think for myself I write down instructions that are not be used in the immediate future such as a departure clearance or an air reroute, for instructions that will be used in the immediate future I usually use short term memory and do not write it down.
Below are some examples:
Departure Clearance - Yes, EVERYBODY EVERYBODY should write this down!
Cleared for takeoff - Never seen anybody write this down
Turn Left 330, Descend 3000 - People usually don't write this down
Descent 3000, DPL4A arrival, proceed direct DPL - similar to last but longer?
Contact center 125.25 - I've seen some people write this down, I don't
Taxi 36L via Echo - usually I use memory and don't write it down.
Taxi W2,T,T3,Z parking spot 203 - Similar to last but longer - maybe should write it down?
What technique do you use?