Cessna 150 checkist

[Genghis the Engineer]

Student pilots: do what your instructor tells you, or you'll fail your skill test !

People who are neither professional pilots or instructors: possibly remember that some other people are?


I find (as an instructor) that PPLs, particularly those who have relatively few - say under 400 hours, who have come to regard checklists (either written or memorised) as optional, usually make many mistakes and are sloppy about most other aspects of their flyng as well.

Memorising checklists for simpler aeroplanes is fine (or open cockpit aeroplanes where anything on paper not tied down is just going to vanish over the side), and using a mnemonic and/or the cockpit as an aide-memoire to make sure you don't miss anything on a memorised checklist, is also fine.

Ignoring the requirement for a checklist (whether that's written, a flow-drill, or a mnemonic) is just asking for trouble.

Also think about how you will use it. Single pilot, there are only really two options - "read-do", or "do-confirm".


I'd treat (and I have a lot of hours, including quite a lot on type) a C150 thus:-

Startup - written, read-do
System checks - flow, read-do
Take-off - written, read-do
In flight - routine all from memorised mnemonics, as read-do
- emergencies using flow-drills if I have time, do-confirm if I don't
After landing / shutdown: do-confirm.

(The third option with checklists: challenge and response is only really available in multi-crew aeroplanes, and that DOES NOT include a student and their instructor).

G