To be fair, the PA-38 Information Manual does not indicate you should check that the park brake is off, that there is sufficient fuel for a go-round/touch and go, or that any of the lights are on as part of its approach and landing checks, all of which I think are quite sensible items to check.
I think with the undercarriage check you can argue both ways however I have heard far, far more cases of the gear being forgotten because the check was skipped than because of a mindset that "we always check it and it's always fixed", in fact I don't recall any instances of the second, which is not to say it hasn't happened - I've been doing this for a heck of a lot less time than most of you on here! I've also never heard of someone having an accident because they forgot to raise the undercarriage in a retractable aeroplane after takeoff because they were used to a fixed gear aeroplane where this check was not taught. Again not to say it's never happened of course.
Last edited by NZFlyingKiwi; 27th Jul 2013 at 06:39.