Originally Posted by Shy
My point is, if the aircraft you're sitting in isn't equipped with your preferred toggle switches but a rotary one instead, you really should follow the manufacturer's procedure, not your own based on experience from other types. The "dead cut" check is done for safety reasons. If you don't do it correctly, someone else could get injured.
I wouldn't refute that, it wasn't the point I was making. The point was that the rotary key-operated mag switch was introduced by Cessna and Piper in place of toggle switches for no good technical reason (Bellanca didn't do it with the Citabria nor Piper with the Cub, both using the same engine as a spam can). It simply complicates what should be a dead simple process, such as toggles give you.
And they did it purely for stylistic reasons (to ape the motor car). There is no technical advantage, indeed there is a disadvantage as it complicates the shut down process and introduces areas of uncertainty among neophyte pilots where none should exist, as this thread amply demonstrates. To say "just follow the manufacturer's instructions" is stating the bleedin' obvious, but it excuses the issue.
In short, it's a piss poor design; style at the expense of function, style at the cost of introducing unnecessary complication and potential for misunderstanding to trainee pilots who really don't need such distractions.
That is my point!