How Quick are your checks?
Inspired by the " How Rude" Thread regarding a Pitts pulling out and taking off in front of a training aircraft made me think.
How often have I asked for an intersection departure at places like Cranfield when faced with a gaggle of training aircraft ahead all going through checks at a painfully slow rate?
I was once in Shannon and walked out to a seneca at the same time as two Canadian pilots mounted a Cargo 747.
The cargo 747 had fired up and was well ahead of me on the taxiway for his takeoff even though we both started from cold at the same time.
I fly shotgun in a King Air the owner pilot missed a slot and was sent back for a 1.5 hr delay due to his painfully slow 20 minute check regime as he missed his slot.
On another occasion in Nice I had six minutes to make a takeoff from cold in a citation! We made it.
Some pilots seem to fly around the preflight and taxi checks with their hands darting around the panel like lightning bolts! Others seem to go at one rate "very slow".
How do you deal with your checks? Can you do them from memory with a quick glance down the list to confirm or are you a one speed pilot?
There is an arguement that you dont really know your plane until you can fly without a check list.
Pace