4 ms·

I still have a crystal clear memory of the time I was out in the practice area with my flight instructor and had what appeared to be a legitimate engine failure

I still have a crystal clear memory of the time I was out in the practice area with my flight instructor and had what appeared to be a legitimate engine failure. I was all set to land in a stubble field and about 200' agl my instructor reached down and flipped the fuel selector from off to both. Never forgot that step in the checklist since. Learned several valuable lessons that day - practice til you don't miss anything . . . and keep an eye on your instructor :-)

SomeHacker44 5y ago
Ballsy instructor to leave it that long. :)
- earleybird 5y ago
  Possibly - pretty sure it wasn't the first time he'd done that. In the same practice area was a dirt runway in a farmers field that we'd use for rough field landing practice - usually meant cleaning the cow crap from the undersides of the wings. Worst that would have happened - rough field landing in stubble.
petters 5y ago
> Never forgot that step in the checklist since I thought the whole point of checklists was that individual steps should not have to be remembered. E.g. every doctor and nurse knows how to put in a catheter. Yet explicit checklists save lives. If you have to remember the individual steps, it sounds like you are not using a checklist? Aren't they printed somewhere?
- FabHK 5y ago
  Some checklists include memory items - things that ought to be done immediately, without delay caused by looking up a checklist. An engine failure scenario is one where you don't want to spend time getting out the checklist. For the engine checks, you develop a flow from one area of the cockpit to the other, basically touching everything related to the engine. For a Cessna 172 you'd check fuel selector valve, alternate air intake, fuel shutoff valve, throttle, mixture, carb heat (if equipped), engine instruments, ignition switch, magnetos, fuel pump (if equipped).

SomeHacker44 5y ago

Ballsy instructor to leave it that long. :)

earleybird 5y ago
Possibly - pretty sure it wasn't the first time he'd done that. In the same practice area was a dirt runway in a farmers field that we'd use for rough field landing practice - usually meant cleaning the cow crap from the undersides of the wings. Worst that would have happened - rough field landing in stubble.

petters 5y ago

> Never forgot that step in the checklist since I thought the whole point of checklists was that individual steps should not have to be remembered. E.g. every doctor and nurse knows how to put in a catheter. Yet explicit checklists save lives. If you have to remember the individual steps, it sounds like you are not using a checklist? Aren't they printed somewhere?

FabHK 5y ago
Some checklists include memory items - things that ought to be done immediately, without delay caused by looking up a checklist. An engine failure scenario is one where you don't want to spend time getting out the checklist. For the engine checks, you develop a flow from one area of the cockpit to the other, basically touching everything related to the engine. For a Cessna 172 you'd check fuel selector valve, alternate air intake, fuel shutoff valve, throttle, mixture, carb heat (if equipped), engine instruments, ignition switch, magnetos, fuel pump (if equipped).