midlifeflyer Posted October 1, 2013 Report Posted October 1, 2013 I'm trying to get some idea what different pilots use as their flow pattern check in Mooneys. I fly multiple types and have pretty much used the same down/up, right/left flow pattern I used in a 172 and PA28. What I'm trying to learn is if there's a better way - more efficient and less likely to result in something missed. Ideas?
Marauder Posted October 1, 2013 Report Posted October 1, 2013 Nope, I do the same. I do a left to right and make sure I touch or point at everything in the flow. I then pull out the checklist for the killer items to verify that I didn't miss anything.
Hank Posted October 1, 2013 Report Posted October 1, 2013 I learned my flows starting in the middle, working up then out to the left. Whatever works for you. Pre-Takeoff uses the checklist; pre-landing and final check use flow.
bnicolette Posted October 1, 2013 Report Posted October 1, 2013 Use what makes sense for you and do it the same way every time. In an unfamiliar airplane it's best to make the checklist a "do list".
jetdriven Posted October 2, 2013 Report Posted October 2, 2013 seems all of the killer items are found on the instrument panel checklist in the J. Since I lost the Checkmate, I have been using that.
teethdoc Posted October 2, 2013 Report Posted October 2, 2013 The guy who did my complex transition training made me verbalize everything out loud. Now I say it out loud still as I go through my pre-landing flow.
Bob - S50 Posted October 25, 2013 Report Posted October 25, 2013 I've been at two airlines and we did it two different ways, left to right, top to bottom and top to bottom, left to right. Whatever works for you. In the Mooney I work left to right, top to bottom ending up at the emergency gear handle to check that it is stowed. We had a little extra panel space so we printed up short checklists and stuck them to the panel. They include only items that, if missed, will hurt either us or the plane. That does not mean I don't check other stuff, it just isn't on the checklist. We have one for before start, before takeoff, takeoff, after takeoff, approach, landing, after landing, and shutdown. We use them as checklists, not do lists. Do it first by memory, then read the checklist to make sure we didn't forget anything. Bob
midlifeflyer Posted October 25, 2013 Author Report Posted October 25, 2013 Thanks for the replies. I ultimately found that using my standard flow made sense, especially since I fly multiple aircraft. Different flows for different aircraft seems to violate the whole idea of a flow. I think I was trying to catch less important items and making the flow more complicated than it needs to be.
Dave Marten Posted October 26, 2013 Report Posted October 26, 2013 Be Careful, Flying multiple aircraft types is THE classic setup for negative habit pattern transfer between aircraft types (wrong switch-wrong aircraft). Depending on what your hopping between there are significant variations on control locations and panel layouts which means there is no one-size fits all flow. I advocate for basic GUMPS checks, but beyond standard safety checks reference the checklist - especially moving between different aircraft types. Pet peave: Most GA pilots are in too much of a rush for absoluetly no reason. Let's just say at idle your burning 2 GPH @ $6 per gallon. Your ground idle time costs 20 cents per minute. Even if you take an entire 5 extra minutes to ensure you're ready to go (checklist, avionics, ipads, etc) you'd spend a whole dollar! 1
midlifeflyer Posted October 30, 2013 Author Report Posted October 30, 2013 Be Careful, Having hopped between aircraft for the past 20+ years as both pilot and instructor, I'm not overly concerned. But good advice nevertheless.
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