Like someone mentioned earlier, precautionary landings have a history dating back to ancient aviation times with partial radio coverage, poor weather forecasts and party line phone communications. The Cessna checklist posted by Bentleg is preparation for a crash. Once safely down and stopped, turn everything back on and clean up.
I've had to do many strip inspections using similar techniques. Checking for water puddles, mudholes, fences, anthills, stumps, saplings, ditches, old ploughs, dead cattle in the grass, irrigation pipes, unused fenceposts and other obstructions on a patch of dirt that the squatter swore was used by large twins. (After landing you find out that the squatter was referring to the one Army Caribou that landed in the same paddock 45 years ago and was never seen or heard from again.)
Several things that I try and remember are:
1. Look out for power lines in your flight path before concentrating on the landing area.
2. Obstacles in long grass will be easy to see from overhead, but won't be seen on approach or landing.
3. Fences and loose fencing wire offcuts are hard to see.
4. Single line telephone wires on old, short wooden poles are very hard to see until you land under them.
5. Your eyes will be looking down. Be careful when you turn at the end of the run. Be aware of wind and drift, particularly if turning with the wind and still concentrating on the end of the landing area.
6. Small anthills in long grass can be a big hazard. They can't be seen until you're on the ground and still doing 40kts.

Lodown, Good post, we all should remember why we might need a precautionery, too ofter it is just taught by rote out of a syllabus and the reason for it is never understood.

Most GR 3 have never actually done an operational precautionery

Yea some good tips,when i was training i used to also turn the di to a cardinal heading over the field for reference.

Precisely. Put yourself in that mind-set, guess what'll happen? That's the problem I have with the checklist.

Like you, I have had to do many low-level inspections of impromptu landing sites, including beaches, paddocks, "strips", lakes, rivers, harbours, bays, ocean waterways and other less formal areas. The advice you offer is excellent. To my way of thinking a precautionary landing is conducted well before it becomes a "do it now or crash very soon" scenario, which implies that the pilot will have time and opportunity to find and properly assess a precautionary landing site, which of itself should (read: must) preclude the necessity of conducting a pre-landing checklist that is "preparation for a crash".

As others have intimated, this is an airborne exercise taught by rote, in slavish adherence to a checklist 1st published 40-60 years ago which was probably quite appropriate to conditions then -not necessarily now. Just no one has bothered to actually evaluate the checklist and update it to reflect more relevant conditions or scenarios. Of far more importance IMO would be teaching pilot candidates to properly recognise when and where the conditions and need for a precautionary landing may soon exist and then to act appropriately in those conditions.

PS&L
 

Bill check your PM's
Kickatinalong:ok::ok::ok: