Checklist article from the past sought
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2007
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From: seattle
Checklist article from the past sought
Looking for an article that appeared in a monthly magazine around 2-4 years ago
topic was what makes a good checklist: size, font, content, etc.
unknown magazine unknown author although i seem to recall the author being from Europe
reason: checklist rewrite for warbird
also seeking links to pertinent checklist writing articles
topic was what makes a good checklist: size, font, content, etc.
unknown magazine unknown author although i seem to recall the author being from Europe
reason: checklist rewrite for warbird
also seeking links to pertinent checklist writing articles
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,296
Likes: 305
From: All at sea
Research Flight Safety Foundation archives. I recall a good article on checklists written more than 10 years ago.
The pre flight checklist can be as detailed as you want, but avoid having too much in the checklists you use after engine start. Ideally it would contain only a few essential items. The ones that could hurt you if missed, like flaps and fuel system are obviously a good idea, but resist the urge to include stuff which should be basic airmanship, like switching on radios after start and landing lights at line up. Everybody does that, right?
Try to arrange the checks in some logical flow e.g left to right or top to bottom.
The checklist must not become a distraction to the aviate, navigate, communicate trilogy - it is there only as a backup to the stuff you should have done before referring to it.
A checklist should not be a ‘how to fly this aeroplane’ treatise. Read the operating manual for that bit.
The pre flight checklist can be as detailed as you want, but avoid having too much in the checklists you use after engine start. Ideally it would contain only a few essential items. The ones that could hurt you if missed, like flaps and fuel system are obviously a good idea, but resist the urge to include stuff which should be basic airmanship, like switching on radios after start and landing lights at line up. Everybody does that, right?
Try to arrange the checks in some logical flow e.g left to right or top to bottom.
The checklist must not become a distraction to the aviate, navigate, communicate trilogy - it is there only as a backup to the stuff you should have done before referring to it.
A checklist should not be a ‘how to fly this aeroplane’ treatise. Read the operating manual for that bit.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 17th April 2019 at 16:10.
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Under the sea
Joined: Sep 2011
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From: Vienna
Asaf Degani and Earl Wiener are the two names I associate with research on checklist design and layout. Simply googling "degani wiener checklist design" should give you some quite useful and authoritative sources.
Joined: Dec 2011
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From: With Wonko, outside the Asylum.
Note that in recent years, technology has enabled much better research into how we read, especially how we recognise words (and the ‘word shape’ theory has largely been debunked). Some of the available material about checklist design needs to be rewritten to take account of this. If you wanted to work things out for yourself, I’d start with a review of the last couple of years of New Scientist magazine, which has covered the research, at least in passing.
Joined: Oct 2007
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
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From: Wherever I go, there I am
Although not an authoritative text for aviation, "The Checklist Manifesto - How to get things right" by Atul Gawande is a good read when you're getting started with building checklists. It's not a "how to guide," but it does discuss how the medical field came around to using checklists. If nothing else, it is a good read to see how another industry began dealing with the implementation of checklists.
