FlyingDude

3,4hr legs. Max 7hrs in a day with wife only. 2,3 hr legs, max 4hr in a day with kids (8,6 yr). I do not allow for food or drinks in the cockpit, so we need to stop to eat, so our leg timing works out. Unless they have genuine interest in flying, you need to keep them comfy and entertained. My kids are growing some interest in piloting ever since I let them sit in the front seat, but that doesnt translate into patience during long XC. Wife has clearly spoken that she actually doesn't enjoy flying GA but she acknowledges that it does save a lot on the door2door block time compared to airlines or driving when traveling to many destinations, so she is "happy to tolerate it". Get your dynamic prop balancing done. My wife noticed it once I got my AP and bought the machine and took a half day to bring it down to quasi 0. Her daily tolerance rose from 3hrs to 8hrs. But she doesn't like driving more that 6,7 hrs anyway, so that's our cap. Stay above turbulence even if that means higher headwinds. The Bluetooth connection into noise canceling headsets combined with panel USB power allows for wife's Netflix binge. Kids have their tablets with headsets. I assume getting starlink could further improve the situation.

I have a Brittain yoke plunger, in case you were going to the lengths of rebuilding one only to have a working one.

I'm already halfway through the paperback book. I highly recommend it.

How is that even possible? Sounds scary.

How long does your preflight take anyway? 5 minutes, 15 minutes? I spend the most time on the "fluids" item per my checklist (fuel level and sample, oil level, tire inflation). The rest runs swiftly. I personally check these fluid items every time I leave the plane out of my sight. What if they need to put A1 in a plane whose tail number approximates yours, as in with the same numbers in which only 2 consecutive ones are swapped, so they fuel yours with A1 while you're flirting with the desk girls at the FBO? Too risky.

I'm at 2600 landings. Plenty of opportunities ahead of me to surpass you by far

I split my preflight as blocks, fluids and walkaround. For blocks, I first remove tie downs and chocks. I have 2 chocks and if I haven't removed the 2nd one, I put the only one on the walkway so that's a reminder. Then I remove pitot cover. I set it on the walkway or in my pocket where it bothers my leg: so I know where it's at. Then I remove any heater stuff and the blanket. Then I do fluids: oil, gas (level and sample), and tires. Cup and dipstick only go back in the bag after I'm done. Otherwise they sit on the walkway. When I remove the towbar, I take a picture of it in the baggage compartment. Before cranking I think of the towbar and sometimes I look at the picture for the exact reason you said: in case I got confused with the last time. After the "blocks and fluids", I do the walkaround. I go over the checklist before cranking. So far I only forgot to close the oil dipstick cover because my kids decided to start WW3 over a tablet and I got distracted. I saw it flap open after cranking, so I closed it before takeoff. Not perfect but addresses my personal shortcomings. The leave the stuff on walkway helps me with starting but not finishing tasks... YMMV

I thought we were talking about simple items that are on every checklist, which we are actually supposed to use. I didn't know that we were talking about "any" mistake in general, which is a very broad topic. Big mistakes, like forgetting to drop the gear or misinterpreting a wx chart and ending up in marginal wx beyond one's capabilities, can and do happen even to the best. However the items on this survey are simple things, all of which covered by checklists. Missing them is sloppiness. The remedy is using checklists. Not making generalist moral statements about human infallibility and modesty against grandeur, or assuming that mediocrity is normal. I try to use my checklists. I witnessed people take off with pitot covers on, fuel caps off and one guy was merrily taxiing a Cessna172 with the tow bar on and we called him on the radio. Those sights scared me and burnt into my mind. I strive to not make those mistakes. However I did miss stuff, which I caught later before taking off, but still they upset me. They happened when we flew as a family because young kids can be distracting. So I taught my wife the preflight checks and she helps me not be sloppy. She loves to point out everything I miss and is very thorough.

What if it's the truth? I find fake modesty as unpleasant as boasting. Some people (not me) are perfectionist and they really do score that high...

Or, we should all strive to be like them. I wish I was half as good a them.

I think they're just meticulous. Not lucky.

Why would it be "boasting" if it's the truth? Furthermore, if a said person started the thread "hey, I have never made this mistake in xx hours, how about you suckers?" then yea, that would be boasting. Here, the post is asking the question and a very applicable answer is missing. I'm still novice at 1700hrs so I choose the yet other option: "decline to answer" But I got curious and did check with 2 pilots, 11k and 12k hours each, almost all of them in GA, both about 8k+ hrs dual given, and both answered "nothing". Evil eye caused by jealousy is not karma, btw...

Ok

Why isn't there a "Nothing" box?

It'll reduce your payload for sure. But it may be worth it, if you're going to fly 10k+ feet all the time.