All good stuff above - especially the final walkaround before taxiing (saved taxiing into a freight trolley hidden down by the elevator and taxiing off with an open rear locker in a 210), and this is what I have learnt :

If it flys, floats or faunicates, rent it by the hour,

ATC are there for YOU - so use them when you need to, trying to help them out can sometimes cause you problems.

Scan, Scan, Scan. Trim, Trim, Trim.

I learnt (the hard way) ALWAYS read your contract properly and dont work for free. it bites you in the ass!

My first solo nav, back in my teens, instructor sends me out, wx is scattered showers with plenty of separation between the clouds, heaps of blue sky, I'm young and keen as mustard. 5 minutes into the flight I find myself in IMC. Learnt to respect Mother Nature that day and learnt the meaning of DO NOT RUSH. Also learnt that proper training as well as remembering words of wisdom is a really good idea. Saved my bacon that day.

When being checked to line on a PA31 with a toilet, never be fooled into trying to suck or blow on the poopa tube by another Pilot :}

1) Never feel the pressure!
As someone else as said if you're not 100% sure you've secured the fuel cap or dipstick or whatever shut down and check - you may look stupid to all your passengers or students but it's way better than the alternative.

Also never let other aircraft put the pressure on to turn early or make a short field so they can get in a bit quicker. Making a rotten landing in a 207 while trying to drag it over the fence impresses no one, not even your passengers or the boss.

Great thread

Cheers

"I learnt (the hard way) ALWAYS read your contract properly and dont work for free. it bites you in the ass!"

Some excellent advice there. You would not believe the amount of GA operators (high end operators included) who will try and break their end of your contract. Read your contract, know your contract and for God's sake, get a lawyer to go over your contract with you before you sign it!

Been thinking about this one since the thread first appearred. After 35 years of flying (PPL issued 14/12/73), I just cannot say, "I have learned 1)...., 2)...., 3) .... and 4)...."!

I have indeed been fortunate to fly with some highly experienced and very professional pilots (PPLs, CPLs and ATPLs) and instructors in Oz and uNZed. A few are/were legends in the business but most were just blokes (I have only flown with one chick who was any good!) going about their daily occupation or weekend hobby. Anything I am as a pilot I owe to them and it has kept me safe (and my undies clean!) over many hours and many miles of flying in both countries.

I continue to learn every time I front an IR renewal or fly with someone with a broader or different aviation background from my own.

So, for the words of advice - always be aware, and never stop learning!

Dr :8

Hear hear!. one thing I have learned in this game, is that there is always something else to learn. :ok:

If you can't see the pitot tube put the cover where you can see it, or reach it, to confirm it's off !

NEVER go flying when you didn't intend to in the first place ! Sounds daft, but I have a VW engined microlight that is a bastard to start, hadn't flown it for awhile so decided to ground run the engine, eventually got the thing running and it sounded sweet, the wind had dropped, around 30 mins of useful daylight left, so what the Hell, lets do a circuit. Immediately after take-off I was doing 140 knots, Vne is 104, and climb speed normally around 60 kts. Pitot cover still in place ! So...wasn't stalling, so push the nose down a bit to be safe, level off at circuit height, set normal power for cruise and approach, s'easy - but it makes you think, even after 21k + hours aeroplanes will still bite.

On aeroplanes with check lists, if interrupted ALWAYS start again at the top, maybe not necessary to re-do everything, but at least read it in sequence, otherwise Mr. Murphy will quietly ensure that you re-start at least one item below where you stopped. :ok:

Wrong, you do the same for both.

A few things I have learned, though only an SPL so far:
1) 2 Walkarounds is a great idea.. had a run in with a pitot cover once before. (brings me to the point, mention "airspeed active (and in the right kind of place)" during takeoff roll)

--edit --
The GPS thing was a joke, I haven't and wont touch a GPS for a while.. until I've done my PPL etc. at LEAST.

Always be thinking ahead, and having a contingency plan, or a way out. No matter how rudimentary the flight, or how many times you've flown the route before.

For example - i'm flying on a perfectly clear summers day - late in the afternoon, CAVOK - as good as flying weather gets. Last leg back home, sitting nicely in the cruise at 8,500 feet.

As I proceed along the planned route, "cloud" appears on the horizon. Topping out somewhere either at my level or above it - and going all the way to the ground. A wall of cloud....How could this be I thought ? on such a perfect summers day?

After further investigation, and getting closer to it, I see it is in fact smoke, from a huge bushfire up north.

Winds aloft are sending the wall of smoke South for well over 200nm. Its at least 70nm or more North to get around where the fire has started. Realisation sets in, as do the questions...do I have enough fuel to go around it? Can I go over it? I cant go through it..... Will I have enough fuel to divert somewhere else? Will I have enough daylight?

In this particular instance, it did not end up an emergency, but it was going to be a pain in the ass diverting elsewhere when you need to get back somewhere - or going elsewhere to get more fuel so you can make it around the smoke.

I was so convinced before that leg that in perfectly clear CAVOK weather and not in an area or season known for bushfire, that something like that could ever happen.

A fairly tame issue really, but it did happen to me, and was an excellent wake up call for when you inevetiably end up in your "comfort zone" after flying for many hours with everything running smoothly.

In different circumstances, and with less fuel on board, it could have gotten alot more serious, real quick.

It acted as a stern reminder to me that no matter how good the conditions on the forecast, or outside the window look, there is more to flight & fuel planning than simply assuming the only fuel you need in good weather is from A to B.

Excellent thread.

Braking action on wet grass after a heavy dew is poor. Very poor.

Especially when using a minimum length strip and coming over the fence high because you are trailing a tow rope.

I learnt from that.:ok:

Kingrb,

Smoke in the Northern parts of Australian dry season are part of life. Sometimes the scenics in the kimberley are operating well below VMC at some stages during the flight, but such is life when the whole country is ablaze all the damn dry and the inversion causes the smoke remnants to stick around. Sometimes over Bathurst Island i am highly surprised there has not been a midair considering the traffic in and out of there and the smoke that covers the island all too often.

Pyrotek,

If you are already relying on GPS on an SPL there is not much hope for you i am afraid. Battery's do run dry and cigar lighters in 30 year old aeroplanes are not the most reliable source of 12v on the planet. Do yourself a favour and learn correct VFR nav procedure, if the instructor insists on GPS use, block the pilot side from view so you can apply correct VFR nav techniques without getting your instructor lost :}

A lot of respect goes from me to the guys who did it before GPS, i'll take a bow and considering some of the weather i have flown in, i truly tip my hat to the guys that did it before GPS!

Don't ever practice short field landings involving a touch and go on a short gravel strip!!!!

Always do a full stop, back track, do your checks and do a short field takeoff.

That almost killed me when the Cessna Flap Switch decided it was not going to raise flaps during the touch and go. The mighty C150 does not climb out of ground effect with Forty degrees of flap, probably doesn't with Thirty either.

Needless to say, the problem could not be duplicated on the ground.

-If the baggage door on a 177RG pops open (as it frequently did to when I used to fly them) it can be closed in flight by putting down full flap when the resulting downward airflow pushes down on the top of it

-Some pilots doing ICUS with you like to touch the controls in the aircraft, such as retracting 40degrees of flap in the 206 just before the flare or even the throttle just after takeoff. Both can result in a rather solid landing. If they do this, dont stand for it.

1. There is NOTHING that ever needs to be done in, around or with an aircraft in a hurry

2. If you do something and something goes wrong, undo the last thing you did

3. Don't ever let the aircraft take you anywhere that your brain didn't take you 5 minutes beforehand

4. There is no such thing as being lost. It's ENTIRELY in your head - if you knew where you were 5 minutes ago, how can you possibly be lost?

5. Trim is your friend

6. Beware of the sucker-hole

And something I learned totally unrelated to aviation: Never operate a chainsaw after taking a cold pill :E

Pyro, when I was learning I had an instructor who covered up my asi and got me to do circuits just using attitude and power settings. It is easy and gives you confidence. Then circuits with no instruments at all, just looking out the window, it makes you realise that all the info you need in a light a/c is out the window and in your ears. Also, shortly after that on first parachuting job bugs got into the pitot tube, airspeed check on the roll (good idea) was normal but once airborne the asi slowly crept back to zero, was no problem though even on a short strip.
As for the GPS, put it in the top draw for six months, forget about it until you can navigate properly. If you rely on it heavily it will lead you astray one day. I've twice picked up faulty tracking on GPS with normal navigation methods and once was at night in an EFIS a/c with very expensive GPS units. If you follow them blindly they can kill you.
Framer

1) If tracking overwater outside gliding distance in a single it is prudent to plan a different track to keep you inside gliding distance from land.

I have had a partial engine failure in a single overwater outside gliding distance. Luckily i was the only one onboard at the time. Direct tracking may be quicker but it is not necessarily the most safest/smartest thing to do. If the boss arcs up about the extra few miles that you have added to the trip, stand your ground, one day it will save you a ditching. Moral of the story is plan to keep yourself within gliding distance of land.

2) When loading a flight plan into the GPS ALWAYS cross check whats loaded with the flight plan you printed out. That way you will know if you have entered an incorrect waypoint. Best way is to check total distance on GPS with total distance on Flight plan and when you cross a waypoint check the track/distance to the next one with the flight plan.

300

Always have a last long look underneath the aircraft before putting your fragile self inside it. If a fluid of any sort is escaping, that is where it will be found.

Yes, forget GPS. Navigation is just plain old commonsense. Think, don't try to do a maths exam in a rattling steel cabinet. Once had a co-pilot insist that I fly a heading of 310 departing Singapore for Australia. He had cocked up the INS ( pre GPS gadget ) data entry, but was prepared to follow the winking lights, regardless. Think.

Had an old Nav. instructor suggest that I mentally climb outside the aircraft, pretend it was a model aeroplane that I was pushing over a map - which way you gonna turn, lad

Having said forget GPS - I recently needed another 'distance from' whilst flying a microlight ( LSA actually ) towards controlled airspace, couldn't be bothered re-programming the panel mounted one, so took a handheld one out of my pocket. Had to smile, I used to navigate 707's with a sextant, and here I was using 2 GPS's - in a microlight !! How the World has changed. :ok: