Daily flight check or runup before each flight?

J

JackC

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 20, 2024
Messages
431
Location
USA
I was just around someone doing young eagles rides, seems some of the folks do a runup before each flight.

What’s the thought on this vs doing one for the first flight and only doing subsequent run ups that day is the plane is preforming different or if it’s left sitting or a extended time etc?
 
Best time to find out a mag broke is on the ground. It’s habit also which is good to stick to for most folks I guess?
 
You can check the mags at some other rpm. I check them at idle and at full power, but not at those settings before every single flight.

The big Lycomings do not like even a single bad plug, but I have flown halfway across the continent with an inop mag on an A-65.
 
Bob Turner said:
You can check the mags at some other rpm. I check them at idle and at full power, but not at those settings before every single flight.

The big Lycomings do not like even a single bad plug, but I have flown halfway across the continent with an inop mag on an A-65.
Click to expand...

That A-65 is a amazing little engine

working pistons most of the operations would just want me to do one at the start of the day shy of something being off or sitting for a long time
 
In a way, I agree. I do a checklist out loud before every takeoff, no matter who is on board. Doesn't mean I park in the runup area and go to 1500 rpm each and every time - but I am religious about the checklist. Even solo, it is out loud.

Same for the ATIS, only it is mostly for show - when solo I listen, but when another pilot is on board I write it down.

Each flight review I give includes words on checklists. Generally folks pull out a list of about 30 items, then proceed to silently go down. I make them read it out loud, then suggest CIGAR TIPS and GUMPS. You need a thorough prep for takeoff, but reading two pages of detailed stuff is not going to cut it. Do you have fuel? Is it turned on? Have you at least silently briefed on what happens if the engine quits? Are the controls free? Is the trim set?

That is all covered in CIGAR TIPS. If you cannot remember to tune your radios before takeoff, avoid IFR.

And skip the 20 page after start checklist until you are out of the hangar area. All you need to taxi safely is oil pressure and brakes - just like in your Mercedes. And if you love your engine, keep it at minimum rpm for the first two or three minutes. We have pilots in our alley that have to reduce power after their ten minute after-start procedure in order to safely taxi. Boo.

Um - opinion
 
Bob Turner said:
In a way, I agree. I do a checklist out loud before every takeoff, no matter who is on board. Doesn't mean I park in the runup area and go to 1500 rpm each and every time - but I am religious about the checklist. Even solo, it is out loud.

Same for the ATIS, only it is mostly for show - when solo I listen, but when another pilot is on board I write it down.

Each flight review I give includes words on checklists. Generally folks pull out a list of about 30 items, then proceed to silently go down. I make them read it out loud, then suggest CIGAR TIPS and GUMPS. You need a thorough prep for takeoff, but reading two pages of detailed stuff is not going to cut it. Do you have fuel? Is it turned on? Have you at least silently briefed on what happens if the engine quits? Are the controls free? Is the trim set?

That is all covered in CIGAR TIPS. If you cannot remember to tune your radios before takeoff, avoid IFR.

And skip the 20 page after start checklist until you are out of the hangar area. All you need to taxi safely is oil pressure and brakes - just like in your Mercedes. And if you love your engine, keep it at minimum rpm for the first two or three minutes. We have pilots in our alley that have to reduce power after their ten minute after-start procedure in order to safely taxi. Boo.

Um - opinion
Click to expand...

Agree

Some of the checklists I have also noticed are waaaaaaaaaaay too long as well

This is ours for the champ, it’s folded in half and laminated

IMG-7237.jpg



I also do a quick GUMPSFITT before every to/ldg, lots of it is N/A in the champ though lol

Gas
Undercarriage
Mixture
Prop
Seatbelts
Flaps
Instruments
Trim
Transponder
 
Last edited:
darrell whitley said:
I never used a check list on the Citabria. Always had it available though. The last flight review I got the CFI administering it told me as much. Btw I always used it in all the complex planes I flew. Plus the jets I flew with 2 crewmembers…
Click to expand...

Outside of the runup and emergency procedures there really isn’t much to somehow forget for these planes

I do occasionally take a note in my phone for cruise of OAT, altimeter, RPM, IAS, oil pressure & temp, just trending and flying wise if you ain’t doing something you’re doing it wrong lol
 
I avoid checklists that go through stuff like "master on", "mags on", "depress starter."

If you cannot remember those basic things:
1. You should not be flying at all
2. You won't be flying because you cannot start the engine.

So: We are all safer if you leave those sorts of things off the checklist.

Speaking of old and cranky:

This afternoon we were down to one runway at the world's busiest GA airport, with limited turnoffs.
Flight school 172 pulls off at the only reasonable turnoff, and stops with his tail one foot beyond the hold line. I had to go into the grass to get clear of the runway. There were two onboard, so I guess they were doing a post flight briefing. Ground could not get ahold of them.

That sort of thing can cause violations or go-arounds - always pull forward to the next hold line.
 
The line that says to start the engine isn't there because you can't do it, it's there because in the sequence of steps, that's where it is supposed to happen. Adherance to written checklists is a habit that is better off being reinforced than diminished. I'd also ask all of you to keep in mind that there are a lot of readers here who look to some of us for guidance and who make decisions about their own operations based on what we say. Just because some of you have survived years of non-compliance with standard procedures doesn't mean the low time private pilot who is copying your bad example will be equally fortunate.

finally, if the FAA comes knocking, they may refer you to your POH which may have checklists prescribed. If there are checklists in the POH then those are the minimum that should be used every flight and you will likely not win the argument post-incident trying to explain why you didn't need them.

Yes, I'm a checklist curmudgeon but I know of no other way to know I've done everything exactly as it should be done every single flight. If you do otherwise, please don't post about it. Simple airplanes, yes, but also a very basic concept for piloting and pilot discipline in general that carries on to other, more complex airplanes.
 
thanks. i get equally torqued by people that have to over-complicate every last detail as if there is some virtue in it. Like a tie-down rope isn't good enough, or something simple like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top