Before Take off, tips that can save you.

Something I use before crossing hold short…

Doors (shut and latched)
Trim (set for takeoff)
Controls (free and clear)
Instruments (checked and set)
Gas (enough? Set to desired tank)
Altitude (Altimeter correct? Initial altitude set?)
Radios (talking, monitoring, navigating, squawking)
Seatbelts and switches

Memory Aid: DT CIGARS
 
CIGARS - the C, I, G, A, S steps are complete before taxiing. Only the runup needs to be done just prior to taking the runway. Do as much as possible before moving.

My Before Takeoff checklist (RV-8A):
Prop - Cycled/Max
Carb heat - Checked/Off
Ignitions - Checked/Both On
———
Canopy - Latched
Pump -On
Mixture - Set

If we have to hold for traffic, I stop at the line, call-and-respond the checklist and say “complete to the line”. Below-the-line items are executed when we’re ready to roll.

Wipe out the controls, then take off. Lights are not on the checklist because they’re not a killer item. I aim to keep checklists to six items or fewer, and use it following a flow.
 
I gotta watch it still but Telling yourself before each take off “when my engine quits on this take off I will tell push and I will do so”
 
I almost always fly alone. One passenger in the last 3 years?
Pre-flight checklist and briefing are pretty simple.
1. It's making a lot of noise and the stick and rudder pedals move.
2. If it stops in the next couple minutes, we are going to be hurting.
(That's the royal "we".)

I do agree the checklist and briefing can be important in other circumstances.
 
I'm reminded of the guy that attempted a take off at night and ended up on taxiway hitting a fence right next to the fuel pump. Verify runway with heading
 
Didn't watch. But is this about right --
  • Run the before takeoff checklist
 
Deelee said:
Didn't watch. But is this about right --
  • Run the before takeoff checklist
Click to expand...
Kinda, through his thick accent I gleamed, don't crash or crash straight ahead and do an after off-field-landing check
I suffered so you don't have to.
 
While other items should be taken care of during taxi, the final items before crossing the line should be…
1) fuel (make sure the taxi did not burn below your launch amount).
2) ensure you’re taking the correct runway. Verify with signs, and markings.
3) some airplanes tend to taxi with controls locked. If in such an airplane, check freedom of controls.

Too much other stuff should be done earlier, and may clutter the important stuff.
 
Racerx said:
I'm reminded of the guy that attempted a take off at night and ended up on taxiway hitting a fence right next to the fuel pump. Verify runway with heading
Click to expand...

Well, if the taxiway is parallel to the runway, checking heading isn’t going to help you.
 
Deelee said:
Didn't watch. But is this about right --
  • Run the before takeoff checklist
Click to expand...
Depends on what it says. If it's the manufacturer one, it's often not enough. They rarely include things like abort points, leaning for takeoff at high density altitude, considering terrain beyond the runway for best direction in case of a problem, the MSL turn back altitude, etc.
 
Robert Gee said:
I gleamed, don't crash or crash straight ahead and do an after off-field-landing check
Click to expand...

Ah ok. So - Brief the departure.

So this can be summed up in two bullets -
  • Brief the departure
  • Run the before takeoff checklist
Maybe I will start a yooooootooooob where all this great aviation knowledge is shared in quick bullets. Each video will be 1 to 2 seconds long.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Something I use before crossing hold short…

Doors (shut and latched)
Trim (set for takeoff)
Controls (free and clear)
Instruments (checked and set)
Gas (enough? Set to desired tank)
Altitude (Altimeter correct? Initial altitude set?)
Radios (talking, monitoring, navigating, squawking)
Seatbelts and switches

Memory Aid: DT CIGARS
Click to expand...
I realize you said "before." My pre-takeoff procedure is in three segments, Run-up is a separate checklist. Before takeoff is divided by a hold short graphic. Crossing the hold short is limited to boost pump (as applicable), mixture, and lights.
 
Kritchlow said:
2) ensure you’re taking the correct runway. Verify with signs, and markings.
Click to expand...

Ever since Comair 5191 that is one of my checks. HSI and whiskey compass must agree with runway, and that is when I first found out our HSI was starting to die. "WTF, why is the HSI 90* off from runway heading?" Pull back off and sort it out.
 
I use the classic Lights - Camera - Action as one last check before pushing in the throttle.
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
I use the classic Lights - Camera - Action as one last check before pushing in the throttle.
Click to expand...
I was taught that one a few decades ago and actually used it for a while until two things happened. First, I realized that "action" was meaningless. It meant different things in different airplanes. The second was more recent. The AIM has recommended the transponder be on during taxi and modern transponders come on during takeoff automatically. So "Camera" is superfluous. Between the two, pretty much a mnemonic for mnemonic's sake.

(BTW, if you can't tell, I'm a mnemonic-hater, so appropriate grain of salt.)
 
midlifeflyer said:
I realize you said "before." My pre-takeoff procedure is in three segments, Run-up is a separate checklist. Before takeoff is divided by a hold short graphic. Crossing the hold short is limited to boost pump (as applicable), mixture, and lights.
Click to expand...
Next time I get out to your part of the world, I need to plan some time to go flying with you. Despite my Aggie heritage, I might just learn sumthin
 
midlifeflyer said:
...used it for a while until two things happened...
Click to expand...
I understand. I watched a video recently about checklists versus flows the other day. To me, Lights - Camera - Action is a flow check. Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? Is the engine ready? Most everything mentioned in this thread exists in check lists which I've already performed by the time I'm lined up. L-C-A is just something I find I can perform quickly as one last verification.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Next time I get out to your part of the world, I need to plan some time to go flying with you. Despite my Aggie heritage, I might just learn sumthin
Click to expand...
I'd love to get together if you get out this way. Not sure how much you'd actually learn from me though.
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
I understand. I watched a video recently about checklists versus flows the other day. To me, Lights - Camera - Action is a flow check. Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? Is the engine ready? Most everything mentioned in this thread exists in check lists which I've already performed by the time I'm lined up. L-C-A is just something I find I can perform quickly as one last verification.
Click to expand...
I understand. My comments about mnemonics tend to be with my tongue firmly planted in cheek (well, mostly, anyway ;)).

Seriously, though, I tend to think of good mnemonics as a third type of list of things to be performed/completed/verified. Checklists are physical; mnemonics are memory prompts/mental reminders; flows take advantage of cockpit arrangement/ organization. Perhaps obviously, there will be much overlap in addition to situations in which one type may be much better than another.
 
Always do one fast walkaround before boarding. Things can happen between a pre-flight and boarding!
 
Deelee said:
Ah ok. So - Brief the departure.

So this can be summed up in two bullets -
  • Brief the departure
  • Run the before takeoff checklist
Maybe I will start a yooooootooooob where all this great aviation knowledge is shared in quick bullets. Each video will be 1 to 2 seconds long.
Click to expand...

the makings of a viral YouTube short/tiktok
 
Cessna seats have developed into an entire checklist of their own. First off the design requires they be moved every time you get in or out which, over years, results in wear and sloppy fit. Secondly, I'm not sure they were designed with the notion of accommodating 250-300 lb persons on a regular basis. The engineers of the 50's had no way of knowing we were gonna get so big.
 
Rein Hart said:
the makings of a viral YouTube short/tiktok
Click to expand...

I'm gonna be an influencer!! Mon-e-tize...

"Don't forget to hit subscribe below and hit that bell!!.. and can we get some likes for this, guys? C'mon go ahead and smash that like button down there. If you really like the content, go ahead and hit that donation link..."
 
The Departure Brief is done before power up. I use a flow/checklist method, and the Before Start, Before Taxi and Before Takeoff checklists are already run before approaching the runway.

Then it is ...

upload_2021-8-26_18-21-39.png

I have these shorty checklists placarded on my panel for quick reference.

upload_2021-8-26_18-17-31.png

Together with the late approach "gate" checklists.

upload_2021-8-26_18-22-12.png

Adding a fuel check to the runway entry list is good practice, but I do it just before.

* Orest
 

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midlifeflyer said:
.... The second was more recent. The AIM has recommended the transponder be on during taxi and modern transponders come on during takeoff automatically. So "Camera" is superfluous.
Click to expand...

Yes, newer Mode S transponders will usually cycle for you from ground to air mode, older ones should just be put on after startup.

But, still important to ensure you have the correct code set in your transponder. I do that as part of runway entry. I'm pretty fussy about my lights as well.

* Orest
 
oskrypuch said:
Yes, newer Mode S transponders will usually cycle for you from ground to air mode, older ones should just be put on after startup.

But, still important to ensure you have the correct code set in your transponder. I do that as part of runway entry. I'm pretty fussy about my lights as well.

* Orest
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Absolutely important but my transponder code is entered and verified long before runway entry. VFR at startup as part of turning on and setting radios. IFR as part of loading the flight plan. For me "camera" was alway about switching from standby to squawk.
 
oskrypuch said:
Yes, newer Mode S transponders will usually cycle for you from ground to air mode, older ones should just be put on after startup. But, still important to ensure you have the correct code set in your transponder. I do that as part of runway entry. I'm pretty fussy about my lights as well.
Click to expand...

With the need for ADSB out be turned on at all times the transponder must be switched on before the aircraft moves on the surface.

As for lights ... I was taught to turn on the strobes before engine start as that lets those around you know that the plane is occupied and about to start the engine(s). For take-off I like to have all available lighting on ... just in case I don't see or hear a radio call from "Wrongway Feldman" approaching head on!
 
Yes, my Mode ES comes on at powerup, and handles switching modes as appropriate. Very handy, but still need to set the code.

Similar, but I do not use my strobes until the runway, and then they go off vacating the runway at the destination. They stay on below 10,000ft, as does the landing light.

The reason -- the LED strobes are very bright and could be annoying to others on the ground (especially at night) so they remain OFF until I'm in the air. But, I have a red belly beacon (and NAV) that comes on with power up, and I use wig-wag wing tip lights for taxi for ground visibility.

* Orest
 
oskrypuch said:
Well, of course there are many ways to skin a cat. That is just something I like to do a final check on.

* Orest
Click to expand...
Absolutely. My preference is from being based at a busy Class D where "ready to go" might get an "immediate" takeoff clearance, so most everything is done before I say those words. So my "mixture, boost pump, lights" cross the hold line check is pretty much all that's left at that point. Although, looking at yours and thinking about it, pitot heat might be appropriate to be moved over to mine. No need to have it on continuously while waiting for release.

But either way, that's a very tiny part of an answer to the original question,
 
One thing I do while taxiing from parking to the runway is a gauge instrument check. Starting upper left and across each row and down, I check each gauge/instrument. Is it reading what I would expect it to read? When I get to the TC and HSI, I swing the nose left/right a few times with the rudder. Does the TC properly indicate the turn? Does the ball roll to the outside? Does the DG/HSI/whiskey compass properly process thru the turns?
 
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