For an engine to really be 10% down on power, its internal condition must be very bad.
As I say, that was a guesstimate from an engineer, but passed down through one of the other guys in the group. He may have 'massaged' that a bit because he fought hard to justify it. We had some oil analysis done which showed some metal deposits, and possible scoring in the cyclinder. The next oil analysis was cleaner but we opted for a new engine anyhow. The 10% as Ghenghis said, probably tranlated to climb performance.
Some pilots seem to use the checklist 'by rote', not actually thinking about the actions.
I think this is very true and a danger of using check lists badly. I have seen quite a few times people saying they have checked something when they plainly haven't, or have inadvertently skipped one or two steps (I include myself in these observations), especially if they are running late.
Doing things by rote tells you what to do, but not why you are doing it The comprehension of why you are doing something (and the consequent repercussions that may occur if you don't) it is IMHO extremely important, and for me is essential for committing things to memory. Instead of seeing a list of 10 consecutive, seemingly random items, you mentally break it up into two meaningful processes (eg "check all electrics are off" & "check engine is disabled").
I do a lot of travelling on the train, so I invested some of this time memorising check lists. Aside from spotting minor ways to improve the checklist, I found it greatly helped in the cockpit. The checklist procedure was much faster, yet at the same less error prone and I had a greater awareness of what I was doing. This made me much more relaxed, as I wasn't nearly so self concious of taking so long and generally faffing.
VinceC is absolutely right im my view. Use a checklist by al means but please not just for the sake of ticking it off. Actually check what is there and understand what is there otherwise a pointless exercise.
I actually consider that chanting 'undercarriage down and welded' in your C150 checks is laying a trap for yourself in the future, when you fly an aeroplane where it isn't 'down', still less welded!
I disagree. I always check gear down as part of pre-landing checks and on final whether in a C152 or a PA-46. Like I said earlier, same way every time.
At 1730 hours solo, in July, I did something so stupid/insane that only my superior luck avoided an accident on take-off. This has really got rid of any complacency, hopefully for another 1700+ hours
At 1730 hours solo, in July, I did something so stupid/insane that only my superior luck avoided an accident on take-off.
Forgot to go to the toilet before getting in the cockpit? :o)
This has really got rid of any complacency, hopefully for another 1700+ hours
I'll say...stay safe out there :o)
Forgot to go to the toilet before getting in the cockpit? :o)
I could never understand that.
Allegedly, there are people out there who limit their flights according to their bladder 
There are technological solutions 
I do agree with the comments on the blind single-pilot use of checklists. After a while, one starts to skip stuff on them. But they still have their uses for specific tasks e.g. configuring the avionics for an instrument approach.
Forgot to go to the toilet before getting in the cockpit? :o)
I could never understand that.
The advantage of having a relief tube....
At 1730 hours solo, in July, I did something so stupid/insane that only my superior luck avoided an accident on take-off. This has really got rid of any complacency, hopefully for another 1700+ hours
Probably not as stupid as mine - after touching down on my very first solo, I heard over the radio my instructor announce "gas rein und raus" - throttle up and take off - so what did I do? I pushed the throttle full forward and because flaps were full and the plane was still rolling around 48knots, it nearly instantaneously leapt into the air. So what was my next reaction? You guessed it, the worst thing I could have done - retracted the flaps to flaps 10 - how I managed to float down the runway around 5 foot off the ground without falling back to earth is beyond me, eventually the plane gained airspeed and off I went.
Since then, when doing touch and go, I remember that incident and remember: first of all flaps to 10, then accelerate.
But please, Maoraigh, share your story. There's no judge, jury and executioner here, pilots should share experiences to ensure no-one else makes the same mistake.....
When I first learnt to fly, like everyone else I presume, I had "use the checklist" drilled into me, and that is exactly what I did.
However I found the school ones badly designed (and they differed from the POH) and (at least partially) as a result of the poor design and probably largely my own lack of care, I often found that I missed items on it.
I designed my own checklist (from the POH) by changing layout, grouping items, numbering them and adding shading etc. This help enormously in terms of not missing items, but I still occasionally missed items from it.
I also didn't really think about what I was doing. Starting the aircraft was a 'complicated proceedure' which I did simply by following the checklist. Actually part of the problem here was that I was trying to be sure not to lose my position on the checklist that I was concentrating too much on the checklist and too little on the purpose of my actions and checks.
One day, with a new instructor, he suggested that I do flow checks and not bother with the checklist. It was a revelation.
Now starting the aircraft became a serious of logical steps, and everything had to be checked, moved and set as appropriate.
Now a days I don't use a checklist of start up etc. However after completing the engine checks and predeparture checks, I do pull out the checklist to make sure I didn't miss anything. Misses are rare ever since I started doing flow checks instead of checklists.
However if I haven't flown for a while (or indeed on the rare occasions that I flew a different aircraft) I do make a point of using the checklist. This helps remove the complacency after a few weeks break. If I haven't flown for awhile I also like to take another pilot with me who is reminded before the flight that I haven't flown in a few weeks and to comment if I miss anything.
dp
