Originally Posted by
BackPacker
There were a few times where I started aerobatics with the fuel pump switched off. As this was in an aircraft with carbureted engine, it takes significantly longer for the engine to restore power after inverted flight. Only then did I remember that I had forgotten the whole HASELL check.
For me, the Airframe check is a quick glance round the cockpit to check whether everything is how it's supposed to be. Flaps up, carb heat off, fuel pump on, canopy closed and locked, loose objects stowed, instrument settings correct, G meter reset to 0, trim set and so forth. To a very large extent it follows the same flow as the pre-take-off checks.
It seems to me that if you started a manoever with the fuel pump off then you did not properly complete the " E " (engine) part of the HASEL check.
Like I said earlier I can't see a lot of value in the "Airframe" check. Personally I think it is an "Air Force ism" appropriate to the high performance aircraft that they fly, but just mindlessly carried over to light aircraft operations and passed down from instructor to instructor with no critical thought as to whether it actually had any value.
Also there is no requirement for any of the PA 28 140 or C 172 series aircraft to be in the utility category to do stalls.