Guy Elden Jr wrote:

all I did was reset the dg to the runway heading,

Guy, I am curious about this. I have flown with other pilots who reset the
DG to the runway heading, but when I question them about this, they admit
to setting the DG to the runway number (with the trailing zero, of course).
As you most likely know, the runway number (with trailing zero) can be off
from the actual heading by as much as 10 degrees.

This leads me to my question: How do you easily discover the actual runway
heading at an unfamiliar airport? Do you, after deciding on the runway you
would use once you start the aircraft, pull out instrument charts or
airport diagrams and write down the runway heading?

I am curious how others integrate this into their post-start, pre-taxi or
pre-takeoff checklists.



--
Peter