"Mark Hansen" wrote in message
...
During my training (both PP-ASEL and IA) my instructors never had me use
the simple check lists (I always used check lists for pre-flight, before
take off, after landing, and close down, but not for Climb, Cruise,
Descent and Before Landing)

However, for the simple lists,
it would be ok to do the procedure first, then soon thereafter pull out
the check list and just make sure I didn't miss anything.

If the procedure was a landing, it's hard to belatedly perform a missing
step afterwards. :-)

This is, in fact, what I now do. It works very well, and doesn't take
any time away from the procedure itself.

In some cases, I don't have a written check list, and so I rely on a
mnemonic memory aid, like setting up for an approach or the 5 'T's, etc.

I can't imagine why a mnemonic like GUMPS would not be an acceptable
alternative to a written check list.

I agree. I used to use checklists all the time (that's how I was taught),
but I found it to be an unnecessary distraction, and I would still
occasionally skip a step. Eventually I switched to using flows and mnemonics
instead. I find that to be at least as reliable as the checklists were. I
often review my checklists just before flying, but not during a flight.

Checklists strike me as more suitable for multi-crew aircraft where one
pilot can recite and confirm elements of the list (and literally check them
off) while another pilot performs them. But for a single-pilot plane,
memorization makes more sense to me. (This may be a minority opinion,
however.)

--Gary