Genghis, you beat me too it this is one of my hot topics at the moment.
Most commercially produced checklists are awful in my opinion and often at variance with the POH/Flight Manual.
- 6 pages of exterior checks, actively encouraging my student to go around reading the checklist carefully and barely glancing at the aeroplane.
I could not agree more.
The walk round on a basic aircraft once the student has been taught is simple and logical - in my opinion you do not need a checklist to conduct same and in fact attempting to read a detailed checklist whilst doing so is detrimental to the task.
Maybe some use the checklist to cover up a lack of system knowledge?
C195, I see this as the crux of the issue. These checklists encourage the idea that they are there to tell the pilot what to do rather than ask the pilot "Did you do this?"
A simple but classic example on the Pooleys PA38 checklist Before Start is "Throttle.......Set half an inch" but this is only appropriate for a cold start - for a warm start our POH says Throttle Closed. So for me the checklist should say "Throttle.......Set" and the pilot should have had the training and knowledge to know how to set the Throttle appropriately.