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Radix

Yes I check the controls before each and every t/o.

I am always supisious of an aircraft just out of maintenance, any maintenance. Like it or not you are a test pilot when you conduct the first attempt to get airborne, after engineers have been at it. All due respect to our engineering colleagues of course.

I did raise the subject of my suspicions to an engineer once. He respond in hast "I am always suspicious of an aircraft when a pilot has been near it!! :}

Ah yes, Aussie Bob. But that is why all of us are still alive. :D

Yeah, those goody goodies who are diligent with checks, talk about a bunch of losers!

Allow me to elaborate slightly ....

There probably exists on this very thread, someone who has neglected this check and is unaware of it. All it takes is a distraction at a critical point. Just ask anyone who has landed "wheels up". The problem is that if this happens the belief that the check was completed remains.

Some may be better off saying: "There but for the grace of god go I"

I understand your point Bob and, of course, it's possible to stuff anything up. But surely before-takeoff checks are the ones we do with the least pressure and with a high probability of getting correct. Is the small chance of a stuff-up really grounds for panning the righteous, even given the irrationality of an anonymous internet forum?

Invoking grace in an aviation context is a slippery slope. In the limit, you'd chuck away the check lists and say a prayer or two. Call me a heathen atheist but I have a suspicion this might not work so well.

I observe pilots who do next to no checks. If they crash and I don't, do I ascribe my longevity to grace? No, I think I'll go with the simplest explanation and just say I identified a few gotchas and had them fixed, reducing the probability of misfortune. If I crash, I accept that the probability of a crash is not zero, even with the best checks in the world.

I agree, I am not a particularly religious person, perhaps I would be better to simply say read "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernie Gahn.

I have long lost count of the number of BFR/AFR's I have conducted and my observations from some are the only reason the crash doesn't happen is because nothing ever goes wrong.

I do also recall an incident long ago when flying skydivers in a 182. I was totally destracted mid way through the pre take off checks by a lengthy ATC clearance. When I tried to rotate I then noticed that the nail the operator was using for the column lock was still firmly in place. Fortunately it was a long runway. Did I learn? Sure did, I am of the same opinion as others on this thread that this check should be done twice, once in the pre take off checks and once just as the aircraft is rolling.

The point is, had the nail been removed, to this day I would remain convinced that the control check had indeed been done. Needless to say the nail got discarded and the operator purchased the correct item. An alarm bell also rings when someone tells me they never forget a check.

Tecman, I think that what Aussie Bob and a couple of others are trying to say is that the OP was posing a rhetorical question, not a poll on how many of the wonderfully diligent and professional internet forum members actually carry out a check, where, how, their fond memories of being taught by WW2 bomber veterans all sprinkled on top with some cute juxtapositions from real life airline pilots posted just to highlight the fact that they really are...... real life airline pilots!

It's all very cute (is there a group hug emoticon?)

Nice one Aussie Bob. A good reminder of the humility required to be a good pilot.

Oktas "I've never forgotten - or have I?" 8

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I think I love you Radix.

Certainly a first for any thread that I have ever started !!

I love you too squawk7700.

Don't you just love school holidays !!

Is that the manufacturer's recommendation in the FCOM or a local chief pilot saying it is a good idea in his humble (?)opinion. May as well give each trim control a bit of a twirl at 80 knots - after all they could be working in reverse:rolleyes:

Actually I think his surname is Gann:ok:

Earnest K, to be precise.

Heard a rather good recount of a rather senior instructor and airline pilot who walked back into the flight office with a hat full of the previous nights efforts (plus brekkie) at the mess after a RAAF cadet decided to do a full and free check of controls as part of his pre-landing checks...:yuk::yuk::yuk::D

Well, you never know if they may have developed some form of binding towards the limits of travel between one circuit and the next!

Actually, it was Ernest K Gann.

And his books are classics and still very readable and relevant today :)