Lengthy superfluous checklists and airmanship lookout
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Lengthy superfluous checklists and airmanship lookout
Reading a thread on this forum about Jabiru flying techniques made me think about the latest CAAP called Updated Advice for Pilots on Non-controlled Aerodromes
Two extracts come to mind. One states: "The advisory sets out principles for good airmanship when flying at non-controlled aerodromes, as well as allowing flexibility in operations. Following the advice will improve situational awareness and safety for all pilots"
and the other says:
5.5.4 "Most collisions occur on downwind or on final approach. There are many distractions during this time, including configuring the aircraft, completing checklists, setting equipment and communicating. Early completion of checklists and configuration changes will help to minimise distractions at this critical time."
One flying school in the Melbourne area operating Jabiru aircraft requires a lengthy and mostly superfluous Before Landing checklist to be memorised by the student and which is conducted on the downwind leg of the circuit.
It went like this: Hatches and harnesses, brakes , mixtures, masters, mags, undercarriage down and locked, fuel pump on, fuel pressure Ok, fuel contents OK, carb heat hot, temps and pressures all OK, flaps as required. A total of 13 items. In fact, similar generic checklists are used by most flying school operators for various types of trainers including the Cessna 172.
In contrast the Jabiru POH/AFM states just three required items:
4.4.8 Before Landing (and flight below 1000ft AGL)
Brakes .....................................................OFF
Harnesses ............................................... SECURE
Fuel Pump ...............................................On
And the Cessna 152 POH also gives only three items for the before landing checks. They are: Seats, Seat belts, shoulder harnesses...Adjust and lock.
Mixture....Rich. Carburetor Heat.....On (apply full hear before reducing power)
............................................................ .........................................
What is it with flying school CFI's and instructors that demand such lengthy and superfluous and often erroneous checklists that student pilots have to memorise on the downwind leg of a circuit where the priority should be a good-look out for conflicting traffic? For example, Moorabbin must be one of the busiest general aviation circuits in Australia, with the vast majority of aircraft flown by student pilots who are already flat out trying to fly a circuit - let alone trying to remember all those downwind drills which means looking inside the cockpit trying to concentrate on making meaningful checks instead of merely mouthing drills by memory but not actually checking.
Superfluous drills like undercarriage down and locked in a Jabiru fixed gear aircraft, for goodness sake. How illogical is that? - or Master Switch and Magnetos on. Or Temps and Pressures. Do you ever hear of a Boeing or Airbus crew checking temps and pressures for each engine on the downwind leg?
The time is well overdue for an intelligent review by flying school operators of the way they overload students with checklist drills that are so illogical for the aircraft type and yet expect students to follow the principles of good airmanship espoused in the above referenced CAAP.
Re examine that CAAP extract above to see what I mean. Here it is again: 5.5.4 "Most collisions occur on downwind or on final approach. There are many distractions during this time, including configuring the aircraft, completing checklists
Two extracts come to mind. One states: "The advisory sets out principles for good airmanship when flying at non-controlled aerodromes, as well as allowing flexibility in operations. Following the advice will improve situational awareness and safety for all pilots"
and the other says:
5.5.4 "Most collisions occur on downwind or on final approach. There are many distractions during this time, including configuring the aircraft, completing checklists, setting equipment and communicating. Early completion of checklists and configuration changes will help to minimise distractions at this critical time."
One flying school in the Melbourne area operating Jabiru aircraft requires a lengthy and mostly superfluous Before Landing checklist to be memorised by the student and which is conducted on the downwind leg of the circuit.
It went like this: Hatches and harnesses, brakes , mixtures, masters, mags, undercarriage down and locked, fuel pump on, fuel pressure Ok, fuel contents OK, carb heat hot, temps and pressures all OK, flaps as required. A total of 13 items. In fact, similar generic checklists are used by most flying school operators for various types of trainers including the Cessna 172.
In contrast the Jabiru POH/AFM states just three required items:
4.4.8 Before Landing (and flight below 1000ft AGL)
Brakes .....................................................OFF
Harnesses ............................................... SECURE
Fuel Pump ...............................................On
And the Cessna 152 POH also gives only three items for the before landing checks. They are: Seats, Seat belts, shoulder harnesses...Adjust and lock.
Mixture....Rich. Carburetor Heat.....On (apply full hear before reducing power)
............................................................ .........................................
What is it with flying school CFI's and instructors that demand such lengthy and superfluous and often erroneous checklists that student pilots have to memorise on the downwind leg of a circuit where the priority should be a good-look out for conflicting traffic? For example, Moorabbin must be one of the busiest general aviation circuits in Australia, with the vast majority of aircraft flown by student pilots who are already flat out trying to fly a circuit - let alone trying to remember all those downwind drills which means looking inside the cockpit trying to concentrate on making meaningful checks instead of merely mouthing drills by memory but not actually checking.
Superfluous drills like undercarriage down and locked in a Jabiru fixed gear aircraft, for goodness sake. How illogical is that? - or Master Switch and Magnetos on. Or Temps and Pressures. Do you ever hear of a Boeing or Airbus crew checking temps and pressures for each engine on the downwind leg?
The time is well overdue for an intelligent review by flying school operators of the way they overload students with checklist drills that are so illogical for the aircraft type and yet expect students to follow the principles of good airmanship espoused in the above referenced CAAP.
Re examine that CAAP extract above to see what I mean. Here it is again: 5.5.4 "Most collisions occur on downwind or on final approach. There are many distractions during this time, including configuring the aircraft, completing checklists
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Centaurus,
probably can't blame the flying schools. CAsA imagine the more items in a checklist the safer it is, and a lot of the time it is FOI's who dictate this stuff.
I know one operator inflicted with a forty two item taxi Checklist, takes around twenty minutes to complete, assuming there are no interruptions from ATC and you are fairly confident where your taxiing to.
probably can't blame the flying schools. CAsA imagine the more items in a checklist the safer it is, and a lot of the time it is FOI's who dictate this stuff.
I know one operator inflicted with a forty two item taxi Checklist, takes around twenty minutes to complete, assuming there are no interruptions from ATC and you are fairly confident where your taxiing to.
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I'm pretty new - currently working towards my PPL. I train out of Moorabbin and the pre-landing checklist for us is BOUMFISH. Not particularly hard to remember after you get the hang of it.
But then again I have to admit, it is pretty strange to check Undercarriage down on a Cessna 172, and autopilot off (Switches) when I certainly don't use autopilot at my stage of training. I suppose it's for us to get into the habit?
Yes, Moorabbin's busy traffic can be quite hairy so I try to get the checklist completely out of the way, after I do my inbound call and before I'm at 3NM.
But then again I have to admit, it is pretty strange to check Undercarriage down on a Cessna 172, and autopilot off (Switches) when I certainly don't use autopilot at my stage of training. I suppose it's for us to get into the habit?
Yes, Moorabbin's busy traffic can be quite hairy so I try to get the checklist completely out of the way, after I do my inbound call and before I'm at 3NM.
I've never heard of "autopilot off" in a checklist.
And that's over half a dozen pistons twins, a few turboprops, and a pax jet.
If you're on approach and your hands aren't on the controls, then the ap is prob on! It's a bit hard to forget.
The FOI bit is true. Many stories kicking around of FOIs who wouldn't approve the manufacturers checklist for high end GA aircraft.
And that's over half a dozen pistons twins, a few turboprops, and a pax jet.
If you're on approach and your hands aren't on the controls, then the ap is prob on! It's a bit hard to forget.
The FOI bit is true. Many stories kicking around of FOIs who wouldn't approve the manufacturers checklist for high end GA aircraft.
It goes back to primacy (they say)
I learnt at, and then subsequently worked at schools with heavy SOPs, and schools with the simplicity of almost the same checklist for every type.
I think there's benefits to both, but I think that up until PPL, the people that truly benefit from heavy SOPs are the operator. How do they charge? VDO, how does the AC work its service sched? A/S. Do the math. 50 students doing an extra .2 on the ground each flight adds up over a day, month and year. What's worse is that's less time in the air for them, and many of them need it.
After PPL, and if you plan to become a professional pilot, I think solid SOPs really stand out to employers (as long as you can actually fly as well), and help the process and cockpit organisatin required particularly with single pilot multi IFR workloads. Any company will teach you their SOPs, and if you've never integrated them into your flying by that stage, you will struggle even at that point.
The old boumfah and variations work fine for almost every single and multi engine piston.
The basic problem comes back to priorities. New instructors in particular are obsessed with numbers , don't lose height in a stall over getting the technique right, that AoB is 39 dg not 45, etc.. Lookouts are taught as cursory instead if the most important thing.
Power and attitude seems to get lost. And what happens when your looking at an attitude? Your eyes are outside.
I could go on...
I learnt at, and then subsequently worked at schools with heavy SOPs, and schools with the simplicity of almost the same checklist for every type.
I think there's benefits to both, but I think that up until PPL, the people that truly benefit from heavy SOPs are the operator. How do they charge? VDO, how does the AC work its service sched? A/S. Do the math. 50 students doing an extra .2 on the ground each flight adds up over a day, month and year. What's worse is that's less time in the air for them, and many of them need it.
After PPL, and if you plan to become a professional pilot, I think solid SOPs really stand out to employers (as long as you can actually fly as well), and help the process and cockpit organisatin required particularly with single pilot multi IFR workloads. Any company will teach you their SOPs, and if you've never integrated them into your flying by that stage, you will struggle even at that point.
The old boumfah and variations work fine for almost every single and multi engine piston.
The basic problem comes back to priorities. New instructors in particular are obsessed with numbers , don't lose height in a stall over getting the technique right, that AoB is 39 dg not 45, etc.. Lookouts are taught as cursory instead if the most important thing.
Power and attitude seems to get lost. And what happens when your looking at an attitude? Your eyes are outside.
I could go on...
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it is pretty strange to check Undercarriage down on a Cessna 172, and autopilot off (Switches) when I certainly don't use autopilot at my stage of training. I suppose it's for us to get into the habit?
With the before landing generic check of undercarriage down and locked foisted upon students who are in a fixed gear type, have you ever wondered why they are not taught undercarriage UP as part of the after take off checks, in order to be consistent with the principle that they may one day fly a retractable gear type and it gets then into the habit? And why not have cowl flaps and propeller pitch controls thrown in for good measure since most retractable gear aircraft have cowl flaps and pitch levers too? 
If you're on approach and your hands aren't on the controls, then the ap is prob on! It's a bit hard to forget.
ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 747-467 registration unknown Hong Kong-Chek Lap Kok International Airport (HKG)
There is no such thing as a generic checklist. There is a manufacturer approved checklist and that is it. No ifs or buts. Good luck trying to get any GA operator to change their 'checklist' procedures though.
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There are always some who say "the manufacturer's checklist is the only correct one". Ok, sounds good.
In the official Cessna 172 POH, there are 32 items to accomplish in the Before Take-off checks. Only three of these relate to the run-up check.
32 items. At $300/hr, most likely.
Problem is, many of these items are drills not checks, and the POH does not differentiate between them. For example, item 32 is "release brakes", because that's the final step prior to commencing the take-off roll. "Release brakes" is sound advice, but it doesn't belong in any printed in-cockpit checklist. It is good advice in an expanded checklist, or in a how-to-fly manual.
No-one knows how to fly a Cessna (Piper, Jabiru, whatever) better than the manufacturer. But it is usually up to the poor old flying school to distinguish between drills and checks. That's why we have so many variations out there in the real world.
In the official Cessna 172 POH, there are 32 items to accomplish in the Before Take-off checks. Only three of these relate to the run-up check.
32 items. At $300/hr, most likely.
Problem is, many of these items are drills not checks, and the POH does not differentiate between them. For example, item 32 is "release brakes", because that's the final step prior to commencing the take-off roll. "Release brakes" is sound advice, but it doesn't belong in any printed in-cockpit checklist. It is good advice in an expanded checklist, or in a how-to-fly manual.
No-one knows how to fly a Cessna (Piper, Jabiru, whatever) better than the manufacturer. But it is usually up to the poor old flying school to distinguish between drills and checks. That's why we have so many variations out there in the real world.
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I know that many people like to, or are required to, use written checklists but I think the average PPL in a bug smasher should be more than capable of committing key checklists to memory, minimizing the amount of time that eyes are inside the cockpit within the circuit.
Having hired aircraft at many places I've lived around the world, I found very few instructors/check pilots took issue with the fairly standard lists I used for common types. My impression was that they were much more concerned to see that important checks were being done, rather than nit-picking specifics. Of course, there were some location-specifc items that an Oz flatlander like me had to add in e.g. Alps flying.
Nowadays with my own aircraft, I do have written checklists, POH etc as required, but I still exercise my brain with the memorized list, making a point of e.g. re-checking just 4 items before entering the runway. I appreciate that this is not the way to do it for all operations, including most commercial flying. But to my mind, nothing looks worse than having a PPL fumbling around with a written checklist on downwind.
To do a bit of nit-picking myself, I don't like this "down and locked" business. How do you know that? All you've got in the cockpit in most light aircraft are "3 greens" (or whatever) and that's what you're checking, as a proxy for all being well with your wheels.
Having hired aircraft at many places I've lived around the world, I found very few instructors/check pilots took issue with the fairly standard lists I used for common types. My impression was that they were much more concerned to see that important checks were being done, rather than nit-picking specifics. Of course, there were some location-specifc items that an Oz flatlander like me had to add in e.g. Alps flying.
Nowadays with my own aircraft, I do have written checklists, POH etc as required, but I still exercise my brain with the memorized list, making a point of e.g. re-checking just 4 items before entering the runway. I appreciate that this is not the way to do it for all operations, including most commercial flying. But to my mind, nothing looks worse than having a PPL fumbling around with a written checklist on downwind.
To do a bit of nit-picking myself, I don't like this "down and locked" business. How do you know that? All you've got in the cockpit in most light aircraft are "3 greens" (or whatever) and that's what you're checking, as a proxy for all being well with your wheels.
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BUTMPFISCHH is the left to right scan of a tiger moth. 
by the way did you notice the subtle unheralded change in procedure hidden in the CAAP?
for decades the circuit height has been 1,000ft and the safe overfly height 500ft above that.
according to the CAAP you should approach a circuit at a country airfield 1,000ft above circuit height and make a 1,000ft descent to circuit height.
another thing to ignore...
by the way did you notice the subtle unheralded change in procedure hidden in the CAAP?
for decades the circuit height has been 1,000ft and the safe overfly height 500ft above that.
according to the CAAP you should approach a circuit at a country airfield 1,000ft above circuit height and make a 1,000ft descent to circuit height.
another thing to ignore...
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Most of the items contained in GA aircraft built in the USA have nothing to do with the manufacturer knowing how to fly the aircraft better. Those items have been added by the their LAWYERS to prevent litigation.
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Many moons ago, one Instructor of note embellished in my head the pre take off check list ... That'll kill ya, that'll kill ya and This will just embarrass ya ....
He pointed at the fuel selector, trim position and DG in that order, never did forget them ......
He pointed at the fuel selector, trim position and DG in that order, never did forget them ......
In GA I used 3 checks for everything .
Type specific flows to the runway.
Prior to rolling:
T - trim
I - instruments (DG/HSI check)
M - Mixture
F - Flaps
I - ignition
S - Switches (pumps/lights/transponder)
H - hatches & harnesses
Prior to landing
B- Brakes
U - undercarriage
M - mixture
F - fuel/pumps
H - hatches & harnesses
P - pitch
U - undercarriage
F - flaps
F - cowl flaps
Never had a wheels up or a prang.
Type specific flows to the runway.
Prior to rolling:
T - trim
I - instruments (DG/HSI check)
M - Mixture
F - Flaps
I - ignition
S - Switches (pumps/lights/transponder)
H - hatches & harnesses
Prior to landing
B- Brakes
U - undercarriage
M - mixture
F - fuel/pumps
H - hatches & harnesses
P - pitch
U - undercarriage
F - flaps
F - cowl flaps
Never had a wheels up or a prang.
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What's the O in BOUMFISH/BOUMFAH?
Brakes pressure check
Oil Temperatures and Pressures Green
Undercarriage down
Mixture full rich, Masters On, Magnetos on both
Fuel Selector to both, fuel contents checked
Instruments (DG aligned)
Switches, beacon, landing, strobe and auto-pilot off
Hatches and Harnesses secure
Folks,
DirectAnywhere has it right ---- it is the AFM checklists for each aircraft, and some are good, some are a pain in the neck, but you are stuck with it.
See CASR Part 21 and CAR 138.
This has been the case since mid-1998, But, Hey!!!! Its only 15 years ago, can't expect Australian aviation to change too fast.
Tootle pip!!
DirectAnywhere has it right ---- it is the AFM checklists for each aircraft, and some are good, some are a pain in the neck, but you are stuck with it.
See CASR Part 21 and CAR 138.
This has been the case since mid-1998, But, Hey!!!! Its only 15 years ago, can't expect Australian aviation to change too fast.
Tootle pip!!
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oil pressure checks are a product of the external oil tank on the gypsy major engine. if any of the joints leaked air you would lose oil suction.
lycomings and continentals have internal oil supplies but the checks remain nevertheless. :-)
we should see checklists as a move toward world peace.
no pilot using a checklist could ever be fast enough for combat demands.
lycomings and continentals have internal oil supplies but the checks remain nevertheless. :-)
we should see checklists as a move toward world peace.
no pilot using a checklist could ever be fast enough for combat demands.
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while silly to check for landing gear down and locked in a c152 For flight training I dont think its silly to be drilled to check if your gear is down.
Most flight students will end up in more complex aircraft, if its already habit to check your landing gear is down when you move to a retractable aircraft you hopefully wont forget it.
I was taught BUMFISH in the C152
first time using it was a mess, after memorising it, the checklist was not an issue landing checks complete in a matter of seconds and you can even time look out between each item. usually started the checklist mid downwind, aiming to complete before turning base. so all that's left to do is fly and communicate
Most flight students will end up in more complex aircraft, if its already habit to check your landing gear is down when you move to a retractable aircraft you hopefully wont forget it.
I was taught BUMFISH in the C152
first time using it was a mess, after memorising it, the checklist was not an issue landing checks complete in a matter of seconds and you can even time look out between each item. usually started the checklist mid downwind, aiming to complete before turning base. so all that's left to do is fly and communicate
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while silly to check for landing gear down and locked in a c152 For flight training I dont think its silly to be drilled to check if your gear is down.
With eleven years of flight training experience, including ATO responsibility for two regulators, I saw zero benefit to verbalising "gear down and welded". However there was a significant downside in terms of students taking home the idea that checking gear down is not important: that is, paying lip service.
Don't mean to be harsh black_knight, but that idea is firmly in the wrong, in my experience. Go with the manufacturer's advice and keep it simple.