Pre-launch Checklists.

Wallace Berry wrote:
Funny thing about checklists...you gotta use 'em.

I'm very conscientious in my use of checklists. I use the ABCCCDWD
(altimeter, belts, controls, cable, canopy, divebrakes, wind, Dead (as
in "will kill you dead if you do something stupid"). I use USTALL in the
landing pattern. Undercarriage, spoilers (yeah, I know its not
consistent with D for divebrakes), trim, airspeed, lookout, land. Works
for me...usually.


I was taught USTALL also, but after landing with water ballast a couple
of times have modified it to BUSTALL, which is not only more useful
but also prophetic if you don't use it!

Mike

Mark Dickson wrote:

There are 8 items in your list, as many as CBSIFTCB,
but no structure or mnemonic. Easy to forget something.

There's a lot of structure in it:
- glider preparation
- instrument panel
- mechanics
- concentration

Each of these points is easy enough to accomplish without forgetting a
thing, and as an additional bonus, the method works for all gliders. But
I agreee that up to a certain point, it's a question of personal taste.

BTW, I'm missing the pre flight concentration phase in all other
proposed checklists, which is an absolutely essential point for me.

Stefan

At 18:06 25 January 2006, Robin Birch wrote:
In message , Bruce


C - Controls
B - Ballast (includes tail dolly)
S - Straps
I - Instruments
F - Flaps
T - Trim
C - Canopy
B - Brakes
E - Eventualities

Personally, I find the final E to be in the right
place, especially
for winch launch. It means the last thing I push onto
my brain stack
is the direction to turn after a high winch launch
failure. This means
that if I have a launch failure its 'nose down --
got approach speed
-- look ahead -- (too high for land ahead)-TURN' and,
because the turn
direction was the last thing into my memory, its the
first thing that
pops out again and turning the correct way is a no-brainer.

We also teach the 'E' with the accent on the pilot
having done the self
briefing, and/or had one from an instructor. The eventualities
item is
just a reminder that life is what happens while we
are planning other
things. On a winch launch it pays , as Martin points
out to know what
your plan is.

It appears that the mind works this way. Referring
to the eventualities
plan as the last thing before initiating the launch,
means it is top of
mind when/if something goes wrong.

So - the eventualities item is not a substitute for
thought, but it
does help to trigger the correct information from current
short term
memory in the event of things falling apart.

I personally have to have a couple of very different
'Eventualities'
plans in my head. Consider the differences. We have
a field with a
short section of reasonable grass, cut short and level
at each end. In
the middle is over 1000m of much longer grass that
the wildlife
continuously works on returning to it's natural lumpy
state. To the
west there is a near parallel 1470m long tar runway
varying from 150m
to 300m, closer on the downhill side than on the uphill
side. Oh, I
almost forgot, the 60' tree between the runways at
the uphill end.
Depending on whether I am flying a 27:1 high wing,
skid equipped two
seater built like a brick outhouse, or my Std Cirrus
with its low wings
and 36:1 performance, a cable break at say 200 feet
will have very
different actions. Which will also vary depending on
which direction
the wind is from, etc. You don't want to be mentally
flipping through
permutations when the cable breaks at an awkward height.

I use the 'E' to remind me, of the decisions I have
made about
launching this specific airplane, on this runway with
the current
weather.

Going through E on a deliberate site, conditions and
aircraft basis is
vital every time. For instance, I fly from a nice
large site with flat
land all around (mostly). If I get a winch failure
and I am in a
position where I have to turn then down wind is usually
the best option
(gives space and time as you turn back into wind to
get into the site).
5 miles away is a ridge site which many of us fly from
occasionally.
Here turning down wind would be very dodgy as you would
go straight into
the curl over at a low height - guaranteed to be experience
enhancing.

So do it last and work through everything that is different
since the
last time you did this - wind (strength direction),
type of launch
(winch aero), aircraft (ballast, has it got flaps,
max launch speed all
that stuff) and so on and ask yourself 'so what' at
each stage. That
builds your get out of jail plan and as has been pointed
out, the last
thing in the brain usually turns up as the first thing
out.

You will get no argument from me that all the items
mentioned in the eventualities are absolutely essential
but my argument is that they should have all been considered
long before the bum was put on the seat. Going through
a long list of things with the canopy shut in the winter
means you mist up and in the summer you cook. If these
items are hurried because of either of these two factors
they are of less benefit . Are glider pilots really
that stupid that they cannot grasp the necessities
of good airmanship and hold them in their brains long
enough to take the correct action. I have always done
an eventualities check but as part of my pre flight
brief/self brief.
Remember that in the UK the pilot does not order the
launch to commence, someone does that for him and yes
I have seen an instructor and a student launch with
the student still doing his eventualities. At a busy
launch point closing the canopy is often the signal
for attaching the cable and from then on the launch
sequence progresses outwith the pilots control, the
only thing the pilot can do is stop it.

" Remember that in the UK the pilot does not order the
launch to commence, someone does that for him"

Wow! that changed since I was there. What happened to one finger for
take up slack and 2 fingers for "all out". How is it done now?

Andy

Once the cable is attached the launch marshall gives
the 'take up slack' and 'all out' orders. The pilot
is assumed to be ready if he has the cable attached.
The pilot can of course abort the launch by operating
the release at any time, provided he is not incapacitated
that is.


At 13:12 26 January 2006, Andy wrote:
' Remember that in the UK the pilot does not order
the
launch to commence, someone does that for him'

Wow! that changed since I was there. What happened
to one finger for
take up slack and 2 fingers for 'all out'. How is
it done now?

Andy

The way it is usually done now in the UK is that you do not accept the
launch rope or wire until you are ready to launch. Once you have accepted
it you can expect the launch to start without further communication with the
pilot.

So do not connect the cable until you are ready to launch; if you change
your mind, release.

The reason for this is so that the pilot can concentrate on the launch
without worrying about signalling to the ground crew, and can have both
hands where required for launching.

It has been this way for competition launches in the UK for many years, it
is now universal for club launches.

Some clubs use a further convention as well. When the ground crew level
the wings the glider is attached and ready to launch. So do not level the
wings until ready to go.

Ground crews have to accept that the pilot will not allow the cable to be
attached until in all respects ready to start the launch.

W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.).
Remove "ic" to reply.


"Andy" wrote in message
oups.com...

" Remember that in the UK the pilot does not order the
launch to commence, someone does that for him"

Wow! that changed since I was there. What happened to one finger for
take up slack and 2 fingers for "all out". How is it done now?

Andy

Thanks Bill and Don for the update. Many US contests use the same
launch sequence. The main reason being that it gets the fleet in the
air faster. I have not seen it used in US except at contests.

Andy

Don Johnstone wrote:
At 18:06 25 January 2006, Robin Birch wrote:

In message , Bruce


C - Controls
B - Ballast (includes tail dolly)
S - Straps
I - Instruments
F - Flaps
T - Trim
C - Canopy
B - Brakes
E - Eventualities


Personally, I find the final E to be in the right
place, especially
for winch launch. It means the last thing I push onto
my brain stack
is the direction to turn after a high winch launch
failure. This means
that if I have a launch failure its 'nose down --
got approach speed
-- look ahead -- (too high for land ahead)-TURN' and,
because the turn
direction was the last thing into my memory, its the
first thing that
pops out again and turning the correct way is a no-brainer.


We also teach the 'E' with the accent on the pilot
having done the self
briefing, and/or had one from an instructor. The eventualities
item is
just a reminder that life is what happens while we
are planning other
things. On a winch launch it pays , as Martin points
out to know what
your plan is.

It appears that the mind works this way. Referring
to the eventualities
plan as the last thing before initiating the launch,
means it is top of
mind when/if something goes wrong.

So - the eventualities item is not a substitute for
thought, but it
does help to trigger the correct information from current
short term
memory in the event of things falling apart.

I personally have to have a couple of very different
'Eventualities'
plans in my head. Consider the differences. We have
a field with a
short section of reasonable grass, cut short and level
at each end. In
the middle is over 1000m of much longer grass that
the wildlife
continuously works on returning to it's natural lumpy
state. To the
west there is a near parallel 1470m long tar runway
varying from 150m
to 300m, closer on the downhill side than on the uphill
side. Oh, I
almost forgot, the 60' tree between the runways at
the uphill end.
Depending on whether I am flying a 27:1 high wing,
skid equipped two
seater built like a brick outhouse, or my Std Cirrus
with its low wings
and 36:1 performance, a cable break at say 200 feet
will have very
different actions. Which will also vary depending on
which direction
the wind is from, etc. You don't want to be mentally
flipping through
permutations when the cable breaks at an awkward height.

I use the 'E' to remind me, of the decisions I have
made about
launching this specific airplane, on this runway with
the current
weather.


Going through E on a deliberate site, conditions and
aircraft basis is
vital every time. For instance, I fly from a nice
large site with flat
land all around (mostly). If I get a winch failure
and I am in a
position where I have to turn then down wind is usually
the best option
(gives space and time as you turn back into wind to
get into the site).
5 miles away is a ridge site which many of us fly from
occasionally.
Here turning down wind would be very dodgy as you would
go straight into
the curl over at a low height - guaranteed to be experience
enhancing.

So do it last and work through everything that is different
since the
last time you did this - wind (strength direction),
type of launch
(winch aero), aircraft (ballast, has it got flaps,
max launch speed all
that stuff) and so on and ask yourself 'so what' at
each stage. That
builds your get out of jail plan and as has been pointed
out, the last
thing in the brain usually turns up as the first thing
out.


You will get no argument from me that all the items
mentioned in the eventualities are absolutely essential
but my argument is that they should have all been considered
long before the bum was put on the seat. Going through
a long list of things with the canopy shut in the winter
means you mist up and in the summer you cook. If these
items are hurried because of either of these two factors
they are of less benefit . Are glider pilots really
that stupid that they cannot grasp the necessities
of good airmanship and hold them in their brains long
enough to take the correct action. I have always done
an eventualities check but as part of my pre flight
brief/self brief.

As I commented - going over and evaluating the possible eventualities and
appropriate actions should be part of the self brief, but I still find it helps
to remind myself of what I have decided as I close the canopy. I don't think a
pilot should sit sweltering under a closed cockpit going over all the
permutations, that's what you want to avoid. My "E" check generally amounts to a
quick go over the critical numbers.

Remember that in the UK the pilot does not order the
launch to commence, someone does that for him and yes
I have seen an instructor and a student launch with
the student still doing his eventualities. At a busy
launch point closing the canopy is often the signal
for attaching the cable and from then on the launch
sequence progresses outwith the pilots control, the
only thing the pilot can do is stop it.






--
Bruce Greeff
Std Cirrus #57
I'm no-T at the address above.

Don

A check list is there to confirm that certain actions
have been completed, and pick up those that have not.

Having the item 'E-eventualities' at the end of the
checklist need not be a prompt for a lecture. The
response to 'E' could simply be 'as briefed'.

Can't see any logical argument for removing it.

Keith





Going through
a long list of things with the canopy shut in the winter
means you mist up and in the summer you cook. If these
items are hurried because of either of these two factors
they are of less benefit . Are glider pilots really
that stupid that they cannot grasp the necessities
of good airmanship and hold them in their brains long
enough to take the correct action. I have always done
an eventualities check but as part of my pre flight
brief/self brief.