cockpit organization and checklist use

[denverpilot]

Food for thought CFI padawan...
I liken that acronym to a waiter/waitress at a restaurant who takes your order without writing it down. There is no upside to the memorization and the person is likely to get it wrong.

No disagreement there. I never get that thing right. And determining airworthiness is something one is doing on the damned ground anyway, where looking it up costs you nothing in loss of SA or safety. It's nice if one can memorize that whole thing accurately, but it doesn't even cover that an AD might throw the whole baby out with the bathwater, or the whole picture of MELs and modern aircraft manuals with lists for day/night and IFR/VFR.

Abeam intended point of landing, gear down. (Thud! under the seat)

That one ignores that a large number of ops IFR, even VMC, are straight in. Careful. Cleared for the visual after being vectored to final... or flying the approach. Have to add "at FAF" or "glideslope intercept" as an "always gear down unless there's a damn good reason to keep them up" point besides "abeam downwind".

How do you eliminate that 1/100 error rate so that you use the checklist every single time, as a single pilot?

There's a certain CFI hanging around here who likes to simply write whatever the student is forgetting regularly on a post it note and slapping it right on the glareshield in front of their face until they stop forgetting it.

Why put it in your lap on the chart. Stick it right where your eyeballs will be. Near the ASI. Or the AI. Put it slightly in the way of something you like to look at during the descent. Wherever your eyeballs go, put it there. Make it cover half of an instrument. Make it annoying to look around.

Write CHECKLIST? on it until you don't need it anymore to ask yourself that question on your own.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Illustration of not using a written checklist.

I was doing transition training fir a pilot moving from a 172 to a 182. One of the easiest transitions there is. Pilot did great except for one small thing. Never closed cowl flaps. The pilot had learned a common fuel-mixture flow for the prelanding check and never used his written checklist.

We were doing a series of takeoffs and landings. Required a cowl flaps reminder each time. Finally, instead of a reminder, I just said, "you've forgotten something." Followed by "you've still forgotten something," followed by "you've still forgotten something" as the pilot looked in vain around the cockpit, except at the checklist sitting on the glareshield in his line of sight.

I've seen that more than once, with pilots at various skill levels.

Yes, good flows are very effective but I think the single worst thing about not using a written checklist at all is the habit it forms in not using a written checklist, and even forgetting it exists. And the more critical the situation, the less the likely it is to be remembered.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Checklist use was something we borrowed from professional crews because of their great safety record. Great idea when you're a 2 man crew, always on IFR and one guy can be heads down at all times. When you're alone, VFR, it's a different game. I'm not saying don't use checklist, but I am saying don't use heads down checklist in a heavy traffic environment. I think the FAA would agree with me if you had midair caused by this.

Good checklist use does not require heads-down time in a busy aircraft environment.

For anyone who wants to see examples of good checklist use, look for Guido Warnecke's YouTube channel, particularly his single pilot videos.

 

[midlifeflyer]

How do you eliminate that 1/100 error rate so that you use the checklist every single time, as a single pilot? You all have given some great advices. (I do like eetrojan's idea of writing reminders on the navlog itself. Will try that next time.) Thanks all.

First, don't be too hard in yourself. We all BTDT.

Nothing is perfect but I think one of the big keys is developing a SOP and using it so consistently it becomes a habit. The before landing check is probably the worst one because it is usually the busiest time. I like to think of the before landing check as kind of a briefing and run it well before it gets too busy. You can take care of a few items and it pops a reminder in your head for those very few final ones.

A great exercise for a lot of things is to take the time to do your own post-flight debriefings. If your goal is better checklist use, take the time to review what you did, what you missed, and how you can do better. The exercise itself is part of the self-teaching process.

 

[MAKG1]

Checklist use was something we borrowed from professional crews because of their great safety record. Great idea when you're a 2 man crew, always on IFR and one guy can be heads down at all times. When you're alone, VFR, it's a different game. I'm not saying don't use checklist, but I am saying don't use heads down checklist in a heavy traffic environment. I think the FAA would agree with me if you had midair caused by this.

You don't run a checklist with heads down continuously. Especially in the pattern, one item at a time, then scan for traffic. The checklists aren't that long.

Try running an after-takeoff checklist in a 182 with no autopilot, in turbulent IMC. You have to adjust almost all the controls, and if you bury your head in the checklist, you're going to make a smoking hole. And if you miss something, you'll overheat the engine.

 

[Cooter]

Try running an after-takeoff checklist in a 182 with no autopilot, in turbulent IMC. You have to adjust almost all the controls, and if you bury your head in the checklist, you're going to make a smoking hole. And if you miss something, you'll overheat the engine.

That sounds like a good time to use a memory aid instead of running a checklist. Throw in a complicated departure and you're setting yourself up for a problem. Reading a checklist can be a hindrance, even though few here want to acknowledge that.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Divorce yourself from the idea that a "checklist" has to be written. A flow is a form of "checklist," as is a mnemonic. A detailed, written checklist is the last thing you need to be using during a complex/busy phase of flight. Startup? Sure. Run-up? Sure. Before landing? No. A developed routine of memorized flows/mnemonics is more effective and safer than pulling out a detailed written pre-landing checklist during critical phases of flight.

Because you can always go heads-down for a detailed, written checklist on a crowded ramp? I've seen plenty of people botch that.

If a checklist requires extensive heads-down time, it's either a bad checklist or you're doing it wrong.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Checklist use was something we borrowed from professional crews because of their great safety record. Great idea when you're a 2 man crew, always on IFR and one guy can be heads down at all times. When you're alone, VFR, it's a different game. I'm not saying don't use checklist, but I am saying don't use heads down checklist in a heavy traffic environment. I think the FAA would agree with me if you had midair caused by this.

If a checklist requires extensive heads-down time, it's either a bad checklist or you're doing it wrong.

 

[MauleSkinner]

That sounds like a good time to use a memory aid instead of running a checklist. Throw in a complicated departure and you're setting yourself up for a problem. Reading a checklist can be a hindrance, even though few here want to acknowledge that.

If a checklist requires extensive heads-down time, it's either a bad checklist or you're doing it wrong.

(It's called the "Law of Exercise", for those of you who aren't CFIs.)

 

[bradg33]

Because you can always go heads-down for a detailed, written checklist on a crowded ramp? I've seen plenty of people botch that.

If a checklist requires extensive heads-down time, it's either a bad checklist or you're doing it wrong.

That's a fair point, one that I agree with. No written checklist should be a novel requiring lots of heads-down time. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of people throw common sense out the window when it comes to using a checklist. I've flown with so many students/pilots who are so focused on completing the checklist that they stop flying the airplane (or paying attention to what's going on around them).

 

[MassPilot]

Last year I forgot to do the pre-landing checklist and landed with the mixture leaned way out. I noticed it after landing as I was taxiing off the runway. Nothing happened but thankfully I didn't have to go around. I've always had a habit of doing the pre-landing checklist (by memory) right after initial contact with the tower or initial call-out on the CTAF. Somehow I forgot this one time. Now I write "MIXTURE!!" in big letters on top of the airport diagram for my destination or at the top of my sheet of notes I'm using for the flight. I also now check the mixture at least six or seven times during the approach phase. In the C172SP's I fly, everything on the pre-landing checklist is just checking things that should have been set before takeoff and not touched during the flight, with the exception of the lights and mixture.

 

[midlifeflyer]

You don't run a checklist with heads down continuously. Especially in the pattern, one item at a time, then scan for traffic. The checklists aren't that long.

There are multiple ways to avoid head-down time.

Timing, of course.

Another is a flow (or I guess mnemonic, sigh) backed up with the written checklist raised up so you can review with glances as you continue what you are doing. Roughly the equivalent of what you do when you scan instruments.

And you are absolutely right. Good checklists aren't that long.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Last year I forgot to do the pre-landing checklist and landed with the mixture leaned way out. I noticed it after landing as I was taxiing off the runway. Nothing happened but thankfully I didn't have to go around. I've always had a habit of doing the pre-landing checklist (by memory) right after initial contact with the tower or initial call-out on the CTAF. Somehow I forgot this one time. Now I write "MIXTURE!!" in big letters on top of the airport diagram for my destination or at the top of my sheet of notes I'm using for the flight. I also now check the mixture at least six or seven times during the approach phase. In the C172SP's I fly, everything on the pre-landing checklist is just checking things that should have been set before takeoff and not touched during the flight, with the exception of the lights and mixture.

Watch out for that as a solution. Chances are, having sufficiently scared yourself, you're probably not too likely do miss that one again. And by giving it some special prominence, it might actually produce the missing of something else, especially if you continue to rely on memory alone.

 

[MAKG1]

That sounds like a good time to use a memory aid instead of running a checklist. Throw in a complicated departure and you're setting yourself up for a problem. Reading a checklist can be a hindrance, even though few here want to acknowledge that.

Nope. Screw up the memory aid and you'll attempt to climb with the flaps at 10 deg or somesuch. There is a lot to do in a 182 after takeoff.

The RIGHT way to do it is to glance at the checklist one line at a time, and fly the plane in between. Preferably preceded by a flow. NOT replaced by one.

And I guarantee you'll get interrupted by ATC if departing a towered airport, for the handoff to Departure, in the middle of all this. Happens every time. You often have complex departure instructions to comply with as well, also at the same time. First turn is often at 400 AGL, and vectors are commonplace in a radar environment. ATC doesn't know you have a checklist and "stand by" is not a good idea.

If you make it a choice between a checklist and competent flying, you're in for a world of hurt. That doesn't work in some circumstances, and the critical ones are very unforgiving. You must do both.

 

[Cooter]

Nope. Screw up the memory aid and you'll attempt to climb with the flaps at 10 deg or somesuch. There is a lot to do in a 182 after takeoff.

The RIGHT way to do it is to glance at the checklist one line at a time, and fly the plane in between. Preferably preceded by a flow. NOT replaced by one.

How many times have you screwed up reciting the alphabet since you were about 5? How likely are you to forget a word in chorus of a popular song? You underestimate the power of memory and overestimate the benefit of reading off of a list. I routinely catch students skipping a line on checklist and losing their place on the checklist. I have never, not even once, had a student miss an item on a memory checklist because they forgot it or mis-recited the checklist. You do it your way, I'll keep doing it mine.

 

[MAKG1]

How many times have you screwed up reciting the alphabet since you were about 5? How likely are you to forget a word in chorus of a popular song? You underestimate the power of memory and overestimate the benefit of reading off of a list. I routinely catch students skipping a line on checklist and losing their place on the checklist. I have never, not even once, had a student miss an item on a memory checklist because they forgot it or mis-recited the checklist. You do it your way, I'll keep doing it mine.

Now, go recite the GERMAN alphabet, from memory. It's slightly different. Terrible analogy.

Lots of people get "popular songs" and idioms wrong from memory, reliably.

Assuming every student will always fly the same airplane forever is quite wrong. And there was a very common example given earlier in the thread. Every 172 pilot transitioning to a 182 forgets the cowl flaps. You can bet on it. And every 172SP pilot flying a 172N will forget the carb heat or attempt to start the engine with the fuel cut off. Transitioning to a low wing will result in not switching tanks -- and that's a big one; more than one 172 driver has dead sticked a PA28 onto a highway with one full tank. And if you ever have a student in a complex aircraft....oh boy. If you've never once had a student screw this up, you haven't looked. To use an Air Force term, this is stupid.

If you are going to teach a student not to use a checklist, rather than how to use it correctly, you're teaching contrary to the ACS and not doing your students any favor. Checklists are not for wimps. Quite the contrary.

 

[Cooter]

Now, go recite the GERMAN alphabet, from memory. It's slightly different. Terrible analogy.

I don't know the German alphabet but I'm certain any natural German citizen can recite it without getting it wrong. I also sang Frere Jacques all growing up without speaking French. And sang the French national anthem before I could speak French. Pick whichever analogy you wish, my point stands. Do you have a problem counting to ten and forgetting the order? Why not? Show me where the analogy breaks down.

And if you ever have a student in a complex aircraft....oh boy! If you've never once had a student screw this up, you haven't looked. To use an Air Force term, this is stupid.

Do yourself a favor and quit pretending you are in the Air Force and that CAP is the pinnacle of professionalism. Your arrogance is astonishing. It would serve you well to recognized your limits and quit believing that you understand military aviation because some of your flying buddies wear flight suits. Before you name call, recognize that just because something is outside of your small world of experience doesn't make it stupid. If you did get that, you might realize how foolish your statement was. In 20yrs of military flying I've never seen CAP referenced as a standard but I have seen CAP Pilots with overinflated egos. As I've referenced before, universal statements of condemnation are usually the product of ignorance or immaturity, and most often both.

 

[midlifeflyer]

How many times have you screwed up reciting the alphabet since you were about 5? How likely are you to forget a word in chorus of a popular song? You underestimate the power of memory and overestimate the benefit of reading off of a list. I routinely catch students skipping a line on checklist and losing their place on the checklist. I have never, not even once, had a student miss an item on a memory checklist because they forgot it or mis-recited the checklist. You do it your way, I'll keep doing it mine.

You apparently missed the capitalized "RIGHT."

 

[Cooter]

You apparently missed the capitalized "RIGHT."

No, I just disagree with it. What's right depends on the phase of flight and the checklist being run. Checklists are a means to an end, not the end itself. That seems to be getting confused here. I'm not sure why people take it so personally.

 

[denverpilot]

There is a lot to do in a 182 after takeoff.

?????

 

[MauleSkinner]

Last year I forgot to do the pre-landing checklist and landed with the mixture leaned way out. I noticed it after landing as I was taxiing off the runway. Nothing happened but thankfully I didn't have to go around. I've always had a habit of doing the pre-landing checklist (by memory) right after initial contact with the tower or initial call-out on the CTAF. Somehow I forgot this one time. Now I write "MIXTURE!!" in big letters on top of the airport diagram for my destination or at the top of my sheet of notes I'm using for the flight. I also now check the mixture at least six or seven times during the approach phase. In the C172SP's I fly, everything on the pre-landing checklist is just checking things that should have been set before takeoff and not touched during the flight, with the exception of the lights and mixture.

One airplane I flew had "altimeter set" written into it 4 times before takeoff...and the ASRS reports for busted altitudes kept piling up. The problem wasn't a lack of emphasis, it was just a bad checklist.

I rewrote the checklist, streamlined it, removed references to equipment that wasn't installed, and added references for STC'd equipment in the appropriate places. Minimal heads-down time during high-workload phases, and taught people how and when to use the checklist.

No more ASRS reports that I'm aware of, and a lot less confusion in the cockpit about what had to be done, what had been done, and what was expected.

 

[MAKG1]

Do yourself a favor and quit pretending you are in the Air Force and that CAP is the pinnacle of professionalism. Your arrogance is astonishing. It would serve you well to recognized your limits and quit believing that you understand military aviation because some of your flying buddies wear flight suits. Before you name call, recognize that just because something is outside of your small world of experience doesn't make it stupid. If you did get that, you might realize how foolish your statement was. In 20yrs of military flying I've never seen CAP referenced as a standard but I have seen CAP Pilots with overinflated egos. As I've referenced before, universal statements of condemnation are usually the product of ignorance or immaturity, and most often both.

Do yourself and your students a favor, and teach the ACS.

Yes, CAP emphasizes checklist usage, but that's not where my focus comes from.

The FAA also enforces checklist usage, to the point of calling it out as a "special emphasis area" for which a checkride can be disapproved. It is not competent instruction to teach otherwise. CAP has nothing to do with it.

Sorry you don't like the criticism, but your "opinion" is contrary to best interests.

You can teach a flow IN ADDITION TO a checklist, but it is not competent to teach it as a substitution. Your claims that you never see errors are blatantly false on their face. I've seen errors along the lines that you claim don't exist, and made them myself on a few occasions. The checklist catches them. That's what it's for.

 

[cowman]

Just a thought on this, I don't like fumbling with a checklist while flying. I like to be looking out the window and looking at the panel not digging something out of a map pocket and trying to read it, especially when stuff is happening like looking for airports, descending, flying the pattern, etc. However, obviously the lists are important and I have a little cheat. Piper placarded a short before landing checklist onto my panel so that's the one I use. The laminated one is out for everything from pre-taxi to before takeoff items but at that point I stow it and it's all hands on the controls and eyes out the window/on the panel.

IDK if this will continue to work well if I start flying a complex aircraft but for me this is working and CFIs and my examiner all seemed to think I had a good system.

 

[Cooter]

I do teach to ACS standards. I also teach how to understand the procedures and fly the airplane first. The fact that you have to make so many false assumptions and mischaracterizations to make your point tells me you aren't comfortable interacting with a different opinion.

I have no problem with criticism. Actually, I like criticism. That's why I post my thoughts when I know they'll draw the ire of the POA experts. Debate is a great way to learn. What I have a problem with is people who learn one thing and thinks that means they know everything. Then when challenged start name calling and impede further discussion instead of responding in a way that invites further discussion.

When you get time, go look and see what an idiot this guy is:

http://airfactsjournal.com/2011/11/is-your-checklist-really-necessary/

 

[midlifeflyer]

No, I just disagree with it. What's right depends on the phase of flight and the checklist being run. Checklists are a means to an end, not the end itself. That seems to be getting confused here. I'm not sure why people take it so personally.

Of course it does. And also on the person who is running it.

 

[midlifeflyer]

I do teach to ACS standards. I also teach how to understand the procedures and fly the airplane first. The fact that you have to make so many false assumptions and mischaracterizations to make your point tells me you aren't comfortable interacting with a different opinion.

I have no problem with criticism. Actually, I like criticism. That's why I post my thoughts when I know they'll draw the ire of the POA experts. Debate is a great way to learn. What I have a problem with is people who learn one thing and thinks that means they know everything. Then when challenged start name calling and impede further discussion instead of responding in a way that invites further discussion.

When you get time, go look and see what an idiot this guy is:

http://airfactsjournal.com/2011/11/is-your-checklist-really-necessary/

I've read it before. I don't agree with his complete disdain for checklists (and he's not the only aviation writer to argue that).

OTOH I do agree with his argument that our checklists tend to be way overdone, particularly the use of "gear down and locked" when all the pilot flies is non-retracts:

To deliberately call false cockpit drills such as gear down and locked in a fixed undercarriage aircraft, must inevitably instill in the student's mind the concept that it is the correct call out that counts – not the logic behind it. The danger is that in times of stress they may risk reverting to the habit of calling gear down and locked without taking the appropriate action – when later operating these special design feature types.​

Personally, I've always wondered whether there have been gear-up landings by pilot who learned early on in a fixed gear airplane that that nothing bad happens when you don't actually check the gear.

 

[denverpilot]

IDK if this will continue to work well if I start flying a complex aircraft but for me this is working and CFIs and my examiner all seemed to think I had a good system.

It won't work when you switch to an airplane without the checklist on the panel, is all. And the habit to reach for and use the checklist won't be there. Just a cautionary tale.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Just a thought on this, I don't like fumbling with a checklist while flying. I like to be looking out the window and looking at the panel not digging something out of a map pocket and trying to read it, especially when stuff is happening like looking for airports, descending, flying the pattern, etc. However, obviously the lists are important and I have a little cheat. Piper placarded a short before landing checklist onto my panel so that's the one I use. The laminated one is out for everything from pre-taxi to before takeoff items but at that point I stow it and it's all hands on the controls and eyes out the window/on the panel.

IDK if this will continue to work well if I start flying a complex aircraft but for me this is working and CFIs and my examiner all seemed to think I had a good system.

I'm gonna disagree with my friend @denverpilot on this one.

Yes, it will. I think the Piper-Style short "killer item" before takeoff and before landing checklists are great.

I don't share Nate's concern about negative transference of the habit. I'd argue there is a positive transference. I think the habit it develops is using a written checklist rather than memory or flow alone and, if the one that is available is stuck on the panel, tossed on the glareshield, on your lap, a PDF in your iPad, or built into your high-tech avionics, you will look to it and use it.

Made one when I was part owner of a Comanche and I think using it had a lot to do with my getting better with using checklists overall.

 

[stratobee]

In the air, I can think of no item except gear down or perhaps mixture, if missed, that would pose a direct flight threat. Not one. So what if you forget to retract flaps after takeoff? Done that many times. You'll soon realize it when she won't get up to speed. Props forward on short final? Why (except to annoy the neighbors)? You need to do a go around, push them forward then. Forget flaps? Can still land.

 

[kayoh190]

IDK if this will continue to work well if I start flying a complex aircraft but for me this is working and CFIs and my examiner all seemed to think I had a good system.

FWIW I handle my GA flying the same way, even in something a little more complex like a Bonanza (although I'm usually flying something simpler). I use a physical checklist before start and during the runup, then use GUMPS (several times) in the air. I'm open to reevaluating how I do this, but I feel like poor discipline is a bigger problem with things being missed, rather than the actual method used. I treat GUMPS like I would a real checklist - run a flow then run GUMPS verbally. If I get distracted or interrupted, I do the whole thing again.

It's interesting to hear the various viewpoints here - usually my time with a CFI occurs because I'm getting checked out in a new (to me) rental, and nobody thus far has said anything about how I manage the cockpit. I haven't had a BFR in almost two decades, so perhaps my methods aren't keeping up with the times. I dunno.

 

[cowman]

If one didn't have a placarded before landing checklist, one could always print one out and tape it to the panel if desired.

 

[denverpilot]

I'm gonna disagree with my friend @denverpilot on this one.

Yes, it will. I think the Piper-Style short "killer item" before takeoff and before landing checklists are great.

I don't share Nate's concern about negative transference of the habit. I'd argue there is a positive transference. I think the habit it develops is using a written checklist rather than memory or flow alone and, if the one that is available is stuck on the panel, tossed on the glareshield, on your lap, a PDF in your iPad, or built into your high-tech avionics, you will look to it and use it.

Made one when I was part owner of a Comanche and I think using it had a lot to do with my getting better with using checklists overall.

Mmmm good point. It's still a checklist.

 

[jordane93]

I think it's time for this

 

[midlifeflyer]

In the air, I can think of no item except gear down or perhaps mixture, if missed, that would pose a direct flight threat. Not one. So what if you forget to retract flaps after takeoff? Done that many times. You'll soon realize it when she won't get up to speed. Props forward on short final? Why, except to annoy the neighbors? You need to do a go around, push them forward then. Forget flaps? You can still land. Etc.

There can be others. For example, at least some Comanche models have the boost pump set up in a way that leaving it on too long after takeoff can cause vapor lock.

Yes, the list if so-called "killer items" can be pretty small but it can definitely be more than just gear and mixture.

And the fact that an item won't kill you immediately doesn't mean it doesn't present a safety of flight issue. Those flaps you didn't retract? Make that a high performance airplane with low flap speed and could be talking damage. So, while I've certainly done it too, I'm not quite as lackadaisical about it as you post suggests you might be.

 

[MAKG1]

There can be others. For example, at least some Comanche models have the boost pump set up in a way that leaving it on too long after takeoff can cause vapor lock.

Yes, the list if so-called "killer items" can be pretty small but it can definitely be more than just gear and mixture.

And the fact that an item won't kill you immediately doesn't mean it doesn't present a safety of flight issue. Those flaps you didn't retract? Make that a high performance airplane with low flap speed and could be talking damage. So, while I've certainly done it too, I'm not quite as lackadaisical about it as you post suggests you might be.

It can also be problematic in IMC, when your airplane doesn't respond to "the numbers" correctly. If you try to climb at 90 with the throttle pulled back to 23 inches like you should, the attitude and climb rate will be wrong, which has consequences for obstacle clearance.

Other "non killer" items like setting the DG to the compass can do really bad things in IMC if your memorized checklist doesn't contain them.

 

[kayoh190]

Trouble is, we can sit here for hours thinking of all sorts of things that would be bad in IMC, or problematic for one way or another. That's how we end up with 172 checklists that are several times longer than the one I use while at work.

 

[Cooter]

Trouble is, we can sit here for hours thinking of all sorts of things that would be bad in IMC, or problematic for one way or another. That's how we end up with 172 checklists that are several times longer than the one I use while at work.

Right, something is still required of the pilot beyond checklist compliance. Otherwise, checkrides would be a lot easier. Risk management implies that there are still risk. It doesn't mean that you should be able to checklist your way to zero risk. The engineering mindset can be an impediment if unrestrained.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Trouble is, we can sit here for hours thinking of all sorts of things that would be bad in IMC, or problematic for one way or another. That's how we end up with 172 checklists that are several times longer than the one I use while at work.

Agreed. There are certain things that are just part of flying.

It's the best reason for us to create our own checklists.

I recently came across an article (may even have been discussed in this thread?) suggesting that the manufacturer's checklist is basically an instruction manual on how to fly that airplane. You can see that in such things as (from the C172 takeoff checklist and repeated in most others)

Throttle -- FULL OPEN.​

Really? You mean you need a checklist item to remember that you need to step on the the gas? I'm also a big "fan" of the instruction to touch down on the mains first in a nosegear airplane. Even the emergency checklists are subject to this. From the Engine Failure During Takeoff Roll checklist:

1. Throttle - IDLE.
2. Brakes- APPLY.​

Aside from the inability to actually use it in the case of that engine failure, do we really need a checklist to tell us, if we have a problem on the runway, to stop? (Although I have seen folks not stop)

That's the beauty of "rolling your own." We can make them personally ergonomic and have as much or as little detail as we feel we need. My checklist doesn't need to work for you, so long as it works for me, and vice versa. That was brought home to me one evening when a good friend and I did our monthly flight and dinner. The FBO's checklist (necessarily detailed) was missing so he asked to use mine. Right at the beginning, my "Switches PRN" reminder in the engine start sequence was completely useless for someone used to and comfortable with more detail. The flip side happens also. While users of personally abbreviated checklists can go through a painfully detailed checklist, "painfully" is the operative word. There's also a tendency to skip things because we know how much useless stuff is in there.

 

[eetrojan]

... "Switches PRN" reminder in the engine start sequence ...

As the user of a roll-your-own, but relatively detailed checklist, I'm feeling stoopid.

Evidently, I would find that completely useless too.

What does "Switches PRN" mean?

 

[dmspilot]

You apparently missed the capitalized "RIGHT."

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or do you agree there is only one right way to do something?