Checklists and Checkrides

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VictorValencia

Pre-Flight
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VictorValencia
My usual procedure during preflight is to do my normal inspection
and then read the checklist to make sure I did not miss anything.

My checkride is coming up in 2 weeks. Should I actually carry the
checklist (in the POH) around with me during the preflight or
do you think it will be sufficient to review it at the end?

Victor
 
It's sufficient to review it at the end.

It's a checklist, not a to-do list.

It's not likely that a DPE will watch your preflight, but if he does, the requirement is just to use the checklist. PTS says nothing about how you use it. Or even what checklist you use (CAP requires factory checklists for stupid reasons, but I've never seen rules like that elsewhere).
 
I agree with MAKG, on a checkride, I do my normal routine, then verify that I didnt miss anything by going over the checklist. Should you miss an item, DON'T try and BS the DPE, just go and check it, you will get caught, they are DPE's for a reason.

My last two checkrides (instrument and commercial) I missed something, but caught it and corrected, and the DPE (two different ones) were good with seeing my catch it and correct it.
 
yup. odds are your DPE won't walk the plane with you - they may watch from a distance...probably not. My DPE didn't watch me at all but when he came out to the plane he started asking me all kinds of questions..."...what is this antenna for?...how do you check the oil in this thing?...how many quarts do you need (ie; what's in the POH)?, etc....

Checklists are important and if you have one for your pre-flight then use it how you normally use it. That's what the want to see. I'm like MAKG...I do my walk around as usual and then use my checklist just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

That's totally acceptable for the checkride.

Good luck!!
 
Same as above but the DPE did watch me do the entire thing.
 
He may not walk to the plane with you for the preflight, but I'll bet he'll look out and see if you have a checklist in your hand. Use the checklist. Or at least hold a piece of paper in your hand.
 
Yes to all of those. The check ride is not the time to change up your routine.
 
I do the preflight then review the checklist once inside the cockpit. Only thing I did differently on my PPL and IFR checkride was to read the items out loud as I was scanning the list to confirm that I hit everything and the DPE could see...or rather hear my process.

My PPL DPE was no where to be seen for the preflight. IFR DPE actually walked the plane with me...they all seem to have a different process.
 
Shawn said:
I do the preflight then review the checklist once inside the cockpit. Only thing I did differently on my PPL and IFR checkride was to read the items out loud as I was scanning the list to confirm that I hit everything and the DPE could see...or rather hear my process.

My PPL DPE was no where to be seen for the preflight. IFR DPE actually walked the plane with me...they all seem to have a different process.
Click to expand...
I read my checklist out loud and touch everything even if I'm flying solo. It helps me not to forget things and makes sure the knobs ans switches are actually in the correct position.
 
Mine walked it with me and asked questions as we went. My suggestion would be to just have it in your hand while you do it, and do your check as normal. The PTS has "use of checklists" on it, so you at least wanna make it obvious that you use it. Having it in your hand will make sure he doesn't even ask "so where's your checklist" even if you don't read each item as you go.
 
Thanks for everyone's response. It sounds like it's not
absolutely necessary but it can't hurt assuming he wants
to see me do it.

Victor
 
What you do is fine, but it won't take too much to just have the checklist in hand as you do the pre flight and look at it when you complete each section. You never know how examiners are, better to give yourself a little cushion.
 
Shawn said:
My PPL DPE was no where to be seen for the preflight. IFR DPE actually walked the plane with me...they all seem to have a different process.
Click to expand...

To this day, I don't know if this was an intentional test or not...but for my PPL, the DPE hovered over my shoulder. He was also a well known, heavily addicted, smoker (check-rides had a hard-length limit!), but as I was crawling under the wing to sump fuel, he decides it's a great time to light up.

I politely but firmly said "Sir, could you please back about 5 yards off with the lighter while I'm sumping fuel?"

I don't know if he was just absent-minded lighting up and not thinking of it, or seeing if I'd call him on it (test of PIC judgement).
 
I would sometimes have the applicants preflight alone just to gather their thoughts after the oral. But then, I'd come out and preflight it again myself, fairly quickly, asking questions as I went. That way, since the plane was unfamiliar to me, I could check the airworthiness to my own satisfaction. Other times, if I was familiar with the plane and didn't think the applicant needed some time alone, I'd just observe and ask questions as it went: "How would having the static port on just one side of the fuselage affect the airspeed in forward slips?", "What color nav light is under the palm of my hand?", "If you were just 10 pounds over gross, could you let five pounds of air out of each main?" :), etc?" Explaining your particular method of checklist usage would be perfect. Two hands are better than one.

Tip: Never walk away from the plane leaving it unairworthy, i.e., key in a door, dipstick removed and sitting on the gas pumps, oil filler door open, etc. Something can break the plan and there you go, taking off with a keychain pulverizing your aluminum or oil spraying on your windshield.

Good luck!

dtuuri
 
Note that checklists aren't just for the preflight. I specifically made up the emergency checklist and the prelanding checklists and put them on the visor for my wife when she took her private ride. The examiner was impressed. She neither omitted using the checklist (common) nor flubbed around in the book or the checklist flipbook to find them.

Some planes put these essentials on the door post.
 
VictorValencia said:
My usual procedure during preflight is to do my normal inspection
and then read the checklist to make sure I did not miss anything.

Victor
Click to expand...

There are only two items Victor. How hard can it be?

CHECKLIST
1. Kick tires
2. Light fires

Just kidding:lol:
 
You didn't say what check ride this is for, but if I were a DPE giving a check ride to a PP candidate and he or she didn't have a checklist in his hand, I might start quizzing them on the checklist. No need to give the examiner reasons to ask more questions. That said, I agree that it's a checklist, not a to do list, so after going around, pause and review the checklist to make sure you hit everything.
 
Brad Z said:
You didn't say what check ride this is for, but if I were a DPE giving a check ride to a PP candidate and he or she didn't have a checklist in his hand, I might start quizzing them on the checklist. No need to give the examiner reasons to ask more questions. That said, I agree that it's a checklist, not a to do list, so after going around, pause and review the checklist to make sure you hit everything.
Click to expand...

The checkride will be for Sport Pilot. I'm going to carry the checklist
with me. No sense in giving the examiner a reason to grill....I mean
question me :)
 
Ross Russo who was a contributor to IFR and flew fighters in the Air Force talks about the fact they got gigged for not using their checklists on preflight. So, they took to carrying it around. Again they got gigged for using it because the bean counters noted they couldn't be referring to it because they weren't turning the pages on it. Subsequently, the pilots learned where in their walk arounds they had to turn the page in the checklist.

I always liken this approach in the military to the fact that we had installed a volleyball net inside the restricted area at APG. Periodically, someone errant hit would knock the ball over the barbed wire fence separating our area from the next. Now we were mostly civilians but we had one guy who was an actual spec 5 in the artillery on loan to us (we were doing an Artillery Control Experiment). Doug would take a good running start at the fence, plant a foot about 3/4 of the way up and vault over the barbed wire. He'd chuck the ball back and repeat the operation to get back in. Once security got word of this the edict came out.
Not "Do not jump over the fence" but rather "No volleyball playing." Great, that will keep the bad guys from jumping over the fence.
 
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