Continuing Ed

Why Checklists Are Like Manners

I was checking out in a Cessna 177RG, a retractable-gear Cardinal. I'd never logged time in a Cardinal before, but it was similar to other complex, single-engine airplanes I've flown, and the cockpit layout was similar to the Cessna I'd been flying for the past several years.

The checkout doubled as a 1.3-hour cross-country to an airport where I had an appointment. I concentrated on flying by the book, and the instructor occasionally noted an operating technique or one of the Cardinal's quirks. The weather was great, and it was shaping up to be a satisfying flight and checkout. Then things started to heat up.

The destination airport is home to an active parachuting school, and with the great weather, I knew people would be dropping from the sky like raindrops. Sure enough, when I tuned the airport Unicom frequency, we heard the jump-plane advise area traffic that his fledglings had stepped out at 13,000 feet above the airport. Meanwhile, a gaggle of sailplanes circled in a thermal just to the west of the drop zone, and almost directly above the downwind leg for the active runway. Unicom crackled as several other pilots reported their arrival or departure.

We were high as we approached the airport from the south, so I opted to lose altitude in a wide 360-degree turn well southeast of the busy pattern. The instructor suggested that I try the emergency gear extension system during the turn. I said "Okay," then looked blankly at the panel, still thinking about the jumpers, sailplanes, and other traffic. The instructor returned my attention to the cockpit by reciting the Emergency Gear-Extension checklist. "Landing gear circuit breaker out, gear lever down, pull the emergency extension handle and pump 20 or 30 times until the gear-down lights illuminate and the handle won't pump anymore. Then push the circuit breaker in."

That done, we turned toward the airport and entered the pattern. I concentrated on the gliders overhead, the parachutes floating down on my left, and ahead of me, a rogue Cessna 150 punching into a base leg without the courtesy of a downwind or a position report.

"Gas, undercarriage, mixture, prop, seat belts," my instructor said, again gently invoking a checklist I was in danger of ignoring. We landed and turned onto a taxiway. "Flaps up, cowl flaps open, trim set for takeoff, transponder on standby, landing light off." This time I was talking, reciting the After-Landing checklist.

The instructor was satisfied that I could handle the Cardinal, but in grading myself, I deducted points for missing the checklists. Sure, I was distracted, but that's why we use checklists - so we don't neglect the things we need to do regardless of the distractions.

The fact is, too often we treat checklists like we treat manners. We use them when it's easy, but when the going gets a little tough, or no one's looking, we stop saying "Please," and "Thank you," and "Gas, undercarriage, mixture, prop, seat belts."

Before a no-pressure takeoff it's easy to use checklists because we have time to do things by the book. In contrast, on an adrenaline-pumping approach at a busy non-towered airport we concentrate tightly on the traffic or the gusty crosswind. The Before-Landing checklist? Forget it. I've got more important things to worry about right now.

There's no good excuse for not using checklists consistently, but there are excuses - too much to do in too little time, too many checklists to remember, and too many items on those checklists.

Tackle the time problem by organizing and planning your flying better. Being proficient helps, too, because the less time you spend thinking about procedures and techniques, the more time you'll have to navigate, look for traffic, and review checklists.

If you have "too many checklists to remember," try this. Every time you transition from one phase of flight to another - from preflight to engine start, to taxi, takeoff, climb, level-off, descent, approach, landing, clearing the runway, and engine shut down - it should prompt you to think "Checklist!"

Checklists differ among airplanes and pilots, but a generic Climb checklist might include such items as gear up (if applicable), flaps up, set climb power, cowl flaps open (if applicable), airspeed or attitude set for climb, and a navigation check. Leveling off at cruise altitude, think Cruise checklist - set cruise power, cowl flaps closed (if applicable), navigation check.

You should keep all your aircraft's checklists within easy reach to ensure that you've covered every item on them, but develop a habit pattern that ensures you remember to invoke each checklist when applicable.

Checklists aren't used consistently in single-pilot airplanes because there is just one pilot to do everything. It's easy to rationalize dispensing with a checklist when workload and stress are high, but it's a lot harder to explain why you forgot to put the gear down or ran out of fuel because you failed to switch tanks.