Anyone ever miss an item on a checklist?

[gern_blanston]

98% of all pilots have forgotten a checklist item, and the other 2% are liars. Or was that something else?

 

[Kream926]

I'm a stickler for checklists, but I always forget to turn off the Air Condition before landing in the Piper Dakota. It's part of the Before Landing checklist, but I like to have mine done about 5 miles out, so I always leave the A/C on with good intentions of turning it off before landing. Probably 1 out of 5 times I actually remember.

aww how cute, you have air conditioning

 

[navigator72]

I forgot to untie the tail once, (I like to call it my "Full power Taxi").

 

[wmuflyguy]

Had a student on a checkride for ppl, forget to retract the flaps and then decided to show the examiner a takeoff with them still down. Needless to say the examiner wasn't impressed.

 

[Snakum]

I got overloaded once (actually a BUNCH of times) when first flying the B200 and I missed "Yaw Damper ... OFF". I was dead on centerline, with no x-wind and everything loverly, so the boss let me land like that and try to turn off onto the taxiway. Laughing, he said he was comfortable letting me land with it on, and that'd be an excellent lesson and I'd never forget that one again ... and he was right. You couldn't have put a ten penny nail up my azz with an airhammer when I started stomping the left rudder and it wouldn't budge.


Minh

 

[9GClub]

Took the runway and throttled up with my window open..... no biggie, but it's amazing how stuff like that can get overlooked.

After having to retract flaps a few times before starting the roll, I've started making it a point to re-check T/O config as my last item before taking the runway. In the 150 it's pretty basic with trim, flaps, carb heat, etc. but it's stuff like that that gets pretty freaky when you're about to rotate.

Another thing my instructor has called me on is not satisfactorily DOING the stuff on the checklist-- for example, it's easy to call "clear prop" without actually pausing for a few seconds to visually clear the prop.

Most of you guys probably do a brake check when you start to roll, but that's a good habit to develop as well. I was careless a few times there in the beginning and once didn't notice the top of my left pedal going all the way to the stop-- with limited braking action-- until I was almost to the runway.

Finally, a couple guys have mentioned taking a step back and actually looking at the airplane-- getting the "big picture"-- from the prop, tail, and wingtips at some point during your preflight. Sighting forward from the tail can obviously help you spot hanging gas caps, etc.

My favorite pre-flight goofup story is a legend at my home field.... apparently the plane wasn't feeling quite right to a guy on climbout. When he landed, he found his bad-ass owl decoy still affixed to the fin......

 

[Jmmccutc]

i've managed to do this twice, i guess i'm a slow learner...but i got out do the preflight instructor came out, gets in start both engines and go to call our hobbs up time to the dispatcher and "sh1t" if i didn't leave my headsets in my flightbag in the cargo area...but hey what can you say i'm a dumbass and it's sort of expected from me!

 

[UnAnswerd]

Most of you guys probably do a brake check when you start to roll, but that's a good habit to develop as well. I was careless a few times there in the beginning and once didn't notice the top of my left pedal going all the way to the stop-- with limited braking action-- until I was almost to the runway.

This isn't a checklist item, but one time I throttled up to 2,000RPM for the runup and started going through the checklist. I'll admit that my head was buried in the cockpit and I wasn't looking around much. Suddenly my instructor yells "hold your brakes"!!! and then grabs the parking brake. Now I was on the brakes, just not hard enough I guess....

 

[User546]

aww how cute, you have air conditioning

Hey now! You and I fly out of the same area, don't be jealous I got a air condition in these ungodly humid weather!

 

[Kream926]

not for long. im going back to where it cools down at night, to like 15 in the winter. the way i look at it, when its cold, you can put on more layers, or stay inside, when its too hot, you can walk around butt nekud all day and still be hot as sh!t