On Mar 28, 3:00*pm, Nyal Williams wrote:
OK, hotshots,

Go read Kern's Airmanship Redefined.

We aren't all up here because we have testosterone poisoning.

Whether it is a checklist or a procedure, these are good devices for
students, low-time pilots, and us old guys who need check lists to help us
keep flying. *Medical advice for older guys (from MD glider pilots) is to
fly more often and use checklists. We aren't all flying international
contests and it isn't the Indy 500.

DON'T TELL US TO GET OUT OF THE SKY!

At 18:37 28 March 2011, Dan Marotta wrote:

On Mar 28, 11:56=A0am, "kirk.stant" *wrote:
Oh, good grief! =A0It's a simple glider, not an airliner.

If you can't tell that you have a load of water on board, maybe you
shouldn't be flying with water (or at all!). =A0The control feel is
entirely different.

Same for flaps.

Test the spoilers? =A0Why? =A0You'll know as soon as you try to
open
th=
em
and can alter your pattern then. =A0If that's too complex, maybe
you
shouldn't be flying.

Check the wind? =A0You mean that you aren't constantly aware of the
win=
d
direction and speed? =A0Drift, crab? =A0Should you really be up
there
alone?

Check trim? =A0Have you been holding constant pressure on the stick?
Can't you land with trim locked at either extreme? =A0Should you be
flying?

I could go on and on, but to what end?

When I flew at Bond Springs, NT, Australia, their before takeoff
checklist mnemonic was: =A0CHAOTIC. =A0What the heck did that mean?
=A0=
I
couldn't remember during the time I was flying there, much less
now!

In my AF days before takeoff we said: =A0"All shiny switches -
Outboard=
"
and before landing it was: =A0"Muff 91, gear check, full stop."

I haven't damaged an aircraft in 38 years of flying. =A0I know,
some
day...

(Flame suit on)- Hide quoted text -

Kick the tires, light the fires, brief on Guard, first one airborne is
lead....

We agree.

Kirk
66

Damn, Kirk! *Did we fly together? *I holler over the side to my crew
chief, "I got EGT, you got noise?"

Seems to me that, in a glider, the only necessary checklist is "Gear -
DOWN".

I suppose some have attempted takeoff with the canopy open but Darwin
is lurking just around the corner and a checklist won't protect you
from him...

Now, now... Nobody's telling anybody to get out of the sky.

I'm only objecting to the mind-set that you MUST use a checklist. In
the traffic pattern is no place to be reading a book on how to fly
your glider. You should know what to do, when to do it, and you
should know your glider well enough to feel when things aren't right,
i.e., wings still full, dive brakes not open, glider not yet on the
ground. If you need a mnemonic to remember these things, fine, but
please don't be flipping charts on the top of the panel while sharing
the pattern with me.