Exciting first week as an instructor...

[sounddoc]

From the various planes I flown, the only surefire way I've seen to get it right is to use the "before landing" checklist from the POH or printed on the panel.

again greed! tbh the only time I do GUMPS is before maneuvers, and true, in most of the planes I fly in it's fuel pump, proper tank and mixture full rich. Before landing or any other change in flight regime, it's checklist checklist checklist. This is in the PTS, and so it's taught. My original point in this whole thing was why not teach your students something they might find useful later on..in retrospect I commented out of context methinks!

 

[derg]

I figure in jet aircraft, the basic three things that will kill you, have an embarrassing trip to the chief pilots office or end up taxiing halfway to your unplanned layover hotel are FGS!

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

Yeah, simulated rudder exercises in the Ercoupe or making rough engine noises and simulated carbheat application in a glider are my favorites.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

Something that I've used in the 737, md88/90 and the 757/767: FGS - flaps, gear, spoilers.

Flaps, gear, condition levers, autofeather. Stuff that pertains to flying slow, landing, stopping (or going around as the case may be), and going around.

Before Landing in the Twin Bonanza is—
Landing Gear - DOWN, IN, GREEN
Fuel Pumps - ON
Flaps - (___), OFF, SET
Prop Levers - (___) RPM

Incidentally, the only thing that really, really matters in all that is "Is the gear down, stupid? Are you sure you put the gear down, stupid? Really seriously make sure the gear is down, stupid!"

It's not necessary to move the prop lever(s) to go-around RPM in most normally-aspirated, reciprocating engines airplane unless you're actually going to go around, or you have a really serious reason to think you will. It makes a lot of racket in a lot of cases and does you very little good unless you wait to do it until things are below the governing range. (Pet peeve.)

One of my biggest aggravations is when people try to "save" the airplane. It'd be interesting to see the statistics of fatal vs. non fatal accidents and what percentage were in rentals as opposed to owned/homebuilt. I've seen a least a couple fatal accidents around here where the pilot tried to save "their baby" and were killed trying to make the impossible turn or something similar, and a few where people seemed to say "screw it, this is what insurance is for", balled it up, and walked away relatively unscathed.

Save the people, save the airplane, save the power plant, save the mission, in that order.

As much as I love the personal sled, I regard it much like the airplane I fly at work: if need be, it'll be sacrificed to protect the lives of those on board.

Except that it's not. There are TONS of airplanes where GUMPs doesn't apply. Look at every plane with fixed gear or fixed pitch prop or no auxiliary fuel pump for starters. The number of planes where GUMPs *doesn't* apply far outnumber the number of planes where GUMPs *does* apply.

In a 172, what are you checking for? The fuel selector hasn't moved since you checked it three times prior to takeoff? The wheels didn't fall off? Your non-existent prop control lever is pushed in? The non-existent fuel pump is turned on?

Note that saying "DOWN, IN, THREE WELDED" is an appropriate response if someone says "landing gear" in a fixed-gear airplane. Or "Prop? Yup, still running."

I'm not opposed to GUMPs for the sake of GUMPs...I'm opposed to wasting time/mental resources. I don't think a person should use an acronym unless all of it applies all the time. In an Arrow, fine....it's basically the manufacturer's before landing checklist. In a 172, forget it. You're in a 172, not an Arrow.

And it's not a jet, please don't fly B-29 patterns either. I guess it's good for getting to 1500, though.

From the various planes I flown, the only surefire way I've seen to get it right is to use the "before landing" checklist from the POH or printed on the panel.

Yes, because the lawyers that wrote the operating instructions for the various Cessna singles really have a great understanding of how the airplane operates. Like setting the elevator trim to takeoff, then unsetting it with the manual electric pitch trim check. (This phenomenon actually observed on recent Cessna singles.)

I also realize that we're talking about Before Landing and not Before Takeoff here, but my point is that the POH is decidedly non-regulatory (or even proofread) outside of Limitations and Performance (incorporated by reference).

I'm not arguing that you ignore it wholesale outside of Sec. 2, but folks need to realize that a general aviation POH outside of Limits is a starting point, and not the word of the Almighty on how you WILL operate the airplane.

The fact that the 172/182 modern Normal Checklist is in the tens of pages (ish) misses the point of a checklist. Checklists are for killer items, and must be short, sweet, and to the point in order to be usable. Otherwise, once you're off the ground, the little binder has a tendency to wind up somewhere on the floor or in the document holder. *shrugs*

(It's also a "check" list, not a "do" list.)

When I flew 402s for the airline that flies 402s, GUMPs wasn't even spoken of in the training environment. It was strictly an "in-range flow" followed by a "before landing flow" followed by a printed checklist. GUMPs would have been a redundant waste of time.

Short, sweet, sensible, and standardized.

I figure in jet aircraft, the basic three things that will kill you, have an embarrassing trip to the chief pilots office or end up taxiing halfway to your unplanned layover hotel are FGS!

 

[flyingbum]

Something that I've used in the 737, md88/90 and the 757/767: FGS - flaps, gear, spoilers.


Sent from my free Obama Phone

For
God's
Sake

Put the gear down!

 

[A150K]

Flaps, gear, condition levers, autofeather. Stuff that pertains to flying slow, landing, stopping (or going around as the case may be), and going around.

Before Landing in the Twin Bonanza is—
Landing Gear - DOWN, IN, GREEN
Fuel Pumps - ON
Flaps - (___), OFF, SET
Prop Levers - (___) RPM

Incidentally, the only thing that really, really matters in all that is "Is the gear down, stupid? Are you sure you put the gear down, stupid? Really seriously make sure the gear is down, stupid!"

It's not necessary to move the prop lever(s) to go-around RPM in most normally-aspirated, reciprocating engines airplane unless you're actually going to go around, or you have a really serious reason to think you will. It makes a lot of racket in a lot of cases and does you very little good unless you wait to do it until things are below the governing range. (Pet peeve.)


Save the people, save the airplane, save the power plant, save the mission, in that order.

As much as I love the personal sled, I regard it much like the airplane I fly at work: if need be, it'll be sacrificed to protect the lives of those on board.


Note that saying "DOWN, IN, THREE WELDED" is an appropriate response if someone says "landing gear" in a fixed-gear airplane. Or "Prop? Yup, still running."


And it's not a jet, please don't fly B-29 patterns either. I guess it's good for getting to 1500, though.


Yes, because the lawyers that wrote the operating instructions for the various Cessna singles really have a great understanding of how the airplane operates. Like setting the elevator trim to takeoff, then unsetting it with the manual electric pitch trim check. (This phenomenon actually observed on recent Cessna singles.)

I also realize that we're talking about Before Landing and not Before Takeoff here, but my point is that the POH is decidedly non-regulatory (or even proofread) outside of Limitations and Performance (incorporated by reference).

I'm not arguing that you ignore it wholesale outside of Sec. 2, but folks need to realize that a general aviation POH outside of Limits is a starting point, and not the word of the Almighty on how you WILL operate the airplane.

The fact that the 172/182 modern Normal Checklist is in the tens of pages (ish) misses the point of a checklist. Checklists are for killer items, and must be short, sweet, and to the point in order to be usable. Otherwise, once you're off the ground, the little binder has a tendency to wind up somewhere on the floor or in the document holder. *shrugs*

(It's also a "check" list, not a "do" list.)

Short, sweet, sensible, and standardized.

One of my biggest pet peeves...The FBO that supplies the 172's I teach in uses a full on novel for a checklist book. The Before taxi checklist even includes stuff like calling ground and obtaining the ATIS . Needless to say I am in the process of designing my own for my students to use (one of the advantages of not working for a flight school).

 

[Ayork62493]

One of my biggest pet peeves...The FBO that supplies the 172's I teach in uses a full on novel for a checklist book. The Before taxi checklist even includes stuff like calling ground and obtaining the ATIS . Needless to say I am in the process of designing my own for my students to use (one of the advantages of not working for a flight school).

I couldn't agree more. The checklist for the 150s and 172 are so freaking long. I'm required to use them unfortunately. I like the safecheck checklist. Just a front and a back page, no page turning or anything.

 

[rframe]

I couldn't agree more. The checklist for the 150s and 172 are so freaking long. I'm required to use them unfortunately. I like the safecheck checklist. Just a front and a back page, no page turning or anything.

I just made my own two-sided card, color-coded sections, printed on card stock, cut to size, and laminated at Kinkos for like $3-4.