ATP, this is not about not having checklists, its about having so much useless crap in them that they become a hazard to safety, if one does a flow check, AND UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEMS, then one can restict the in flight chatter to the important stuff, the problem Ive seen of late is learning by rote without understanding the aircraft systems, to compensate for this checklists are made to cover what should be common sense, as one poster pointed out, if you need a list to tell you to strap in then maybe your in the wrong job. As for the early B29 crashes, there were more than enough problems with the engine/airframe to make flying them a very risky game, not helped by by well meaning folks re engageing a controll lock after the crew had disengaged them.There is no way a fourteen page checklist for a S/E fixed gear piston aircraft improves safety.