Pre-flight a few hours before flight

MarcoDA40

MarcoDA40

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Marco
Ill be flying next week right after work.. I have a 1 hr break approximately 3 hours before my estimated time of departure. The airport is close enough that I will get a thorough pre-flight in if I were to go do it during my work break. If I were to do this, could I do an abbreviated pre-flight later that night? There is ZERO light where the plane is parked, and I would be departing at night. I have done pre-flights in total darkness with a flashlight and I really prefer not to.

I would do a FULL preflight during my work break including fuel and such. If the airplane is airworthy and good to go, I would return that night and, for good measure, double check: oil, fuel, sumps, control surface movement and lights and as always, eyeball everything during my walk around..
I think this should be okay to do while I have sunlight...but please give me your input as I dont want to jeopardize safety..
 
If I am on a long cross country leaving early morning I almost always do the pre-flight the evening before in the hangar, and also the weight and balance. I find it better as there is no time pressure and if I find anything I don't quite like there is time to fuss with it and make it right. I still do a walk around, re-check fuel and make sure everything is closed up and buttoned down the next day when I pull the plane out on the apron.
 
When you do a $100 hamburger run, you probably do your usual preflight at home field, fly, park, eat, and on return do a quick once over, jump in, quick run-up, and launch, right?

So, doing the bulk of your preflight a couple hours early isn't all that different. Caveat - is the plane going to be flown by anyone else in between? If yes, restart from square one.
 
MarcoDA40 said:
......I would do a FULL preflight during my work break including fuel and such. If the airplane is airworthy and good to go, I would return that night and, for good measure, double check: oil, fuel, sumps, control surface movement and lights and as always, eyeball everything during my walk around.
I think this should be okay to do while I have sunlight...but please give me your input as I dont want to jeopardize safety..
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As long as your the last one flying since your pre-flight and if the plane is in a hangar it's a no brainer. If you're out on the ramp I would do the full pre-flight.

GRG55 said:
If I am on a long cross country leaving early morning I almost always do the pre-flight the evening before in the hangar, and also the weight and balance. I find it better as there is no time pressure and if I find anything I don't quite like there is time to fuss with it and make it right. I still do a walk around, re-check fuel and make sure everything is closed up and buttoned down the next day when I pull the plane out on the apron.
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Same process here. I'll preflight the night before and take fuel on. I like to leave the fuel sit as long as possible for my pre start sump and quick walk around.
 
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I agree with what you want to do, as long as no one else is flying it before as others have mentioned. Definitely do a walk around right before you fire it up, check fuel and oil etc. Don't forget to check your lights too.
 
Normally I do one preflight, or as they used to call it a daily flight check, then if I before a flight I literally do a walk around the plane, in about 60 seconds walking around the plane, just to look for anything that got hit or any chalks etc.

The more public the more that might become another full on preflight, if a FBO moves the plane, full pre flight, if on my quick walk around I see ANYTHING, full preflight.

After a preflight think of the plane as a loaded gun
 
I have no problem doing the pre-flight ahead of time as long as the plane won't be used before I fly it. Doing it during the daylight 3 hours ahead of departure is easier than doing it in the dark. :) I'd still do a good walk around, but I wouldn't be too worried.
 
I do a similar pre-flight as above before a long x-country - night before (I usually depart early in the morning) do a full pre-flight, check GPS currency, and top off the oil, fuel and tires. Pack an extra oil bottle or two in the back, make sure everything is neat and tidy. This makes the full pre-flight I do before the flight a naturally abbreviated one, because I've already filled fluids and nitro (tires).
 
Nothing wrong with that at all. Like others have stated, if its a rental and someone else flies it after your pre-flight, its back to step one.
 
Assuming that it YOUR plane that you own you stick to your departure time punch list, doing the rest of the full preflight in advance during daylight hours sounds safer to me than in darkness. I will do the same thing once in a while when I have time before a departure.

Rental or a plane that you do not have 100% control over...no go on advance preflights would be my judgement.
 
Yeah, no - I got it. 'Cuz you're about to launch yourself towards a bunch of trees at full throttle and you want to be super sure that it climbs -and keeps going- when you need it to. It's a soberingly accurate comparison, in that your life depends on it.
 
Thank you for all your responses!
The plane is a rental. It doesn't fly as often as the other planes and even so.. I could ask the person in charge if I could schedule it 3 hours before my actual flight.. Worse thing is they say no, but they are very reasonable people! If they were to allow me to do that, during my initial pre-flight I could mark the pavement where the tires sit with chalk(i have some in my gym bag :) ) and just leave the checklist a certain way or something that would be disturbed if someone were to hop in the plane. Might be too much, but it would give me more peace of mind and take me an extra 3 minutes to do so..
 
MarcoDA40 said:
Thank you for all your responses!
The plane is a rental. It doesn't fly as often as the other planes and even so.. I could ask the person in charge if I could schedule it 3 hours before my actua l flight.. Worse thing is they say no, but they are very reasonable people! If they were to allow me to do that, during my initial pre-flight I could mark the pavement where the tires sit with chalk(i have some in my gym bag :) ) and just leave the checklist a certain way or something that would be disturbed if someone were to hop in the plane. Might be too much, but it would give me more peace of mind and take me an extra 3 minutes to do so..
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IDK, if it's a rental I would want a full pre-flight just before I flew it... Just sayin' :yes:
 
Personally, I just pre-flight about once a month so you should be good o_O

There are some real good tips here:
 
@MarcoDA40 I was in the same situation you were for pretty much MOST of my PPL training. Yeah you could do an earlier pre-flight on the plane, but I'd still want to do a quick walk around to look at the structure, check the oil etc, before blasting off. Definitely also check the lights/battery.

Things can happen in a couple hours. Battery can die, oil leaks can occur as seals dry out, FOD from say...a Lear 45 can put dents in your wing or chuck a stone into the cowling. Wasps can start making a nest.

Unless the plane is in a hangar and well controlled (and even still I'd check), I would never get into a plane without checking at LEAST a few things, even if I had done it earlier. Hell, i even re-sump the plane just in case water decided to creep in for some weird reason.
 
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Full preflight is fine as long as the plane doesn't fly ,before you want to use it. Then on arrival a quick cursory check ,and off you go. One of the benefits of ownership.
 
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