Before the startup

Fares please and all aboard! So, you have done the walkaround, better known as the pre-flight inspection. The passengers are seated and in theory you are ready to get aboard the aircraft and start the engines.

But are you really ready? For many pilots, be they students, airline jockeys or somewhere in between, getting on board may seem in order but there are a few things that should be checked thoroughly before the pilot gets aboard.

It’s a good idea to stand back and look around – and check all the tiedowns and wheel chocks have been removed. A few years back a group of visiting European pilots hired some local aircraft to tour Australia.

One pilot was in such a hurry to get going while up-country that he forgot to remove a tiedown. When the aircraft did not move he applied so much power that eventually the Warrior’s tiedown ring snapped! Has the rudder lock been removed? Has the tail support post been removed? Are all the passengers’ bags and crew gear on board and not waiting for ‘someone’ to load them? Has the nose gear tow bar been removed and stowed? The same applies to the nosewheel security lock. Has it been removed? Not so long ago an Aero Commander 500 took off with the security lock still attached to the nosewheel and a Cessna 210 took off with the towbar still attached, fouling the nose gear retraction system.

Yes, events like this do actually happen and more often than generally known about.

Are all external gust locks and security devices removed? Have all the baggage doors been closed and locked? Cabin doors, excluding the one that the pilot will use, need to be checked for security.

Is the oil inspection hatch closed? Was the oil dipstick checked to be in place and secure – but only finger tight? Are the fuel caps on and correctly aligned to indicate that they are secure? And was the pitot cover removed? It’s is not just new pilots who get caught out. I remember being at a fly-in when a friend, hands still shaking, confided he had just done a circuit in his Auster with the rudder lock on.

He was a very experienced pilot.

All the items mentioned above may seem like silly little things that one should not have to pay too much attention to but ask any pilot and he or she will be able to tell of a case that they know about, maybe even one about themselves.

But wait, there’s more – before getting into the aircraft and starting the engines, check that the taxi path is planned and clear. You need to ensure there are no cone markers in the taxi path, no tiedown stakes waiting to shred a tyre, no other aircraft to bump into.

Then you need to ensure there are no fuel drums or servicing equipment in the way, no ditches, potholes or soft, wet patches to taxi into. Events like these do happen, ask any pilot.

After The Flight

Before the flight even begins you should already be planning for the return to the parking spot. Is the return taxi path clear? Is it clear of tiedown stakes and obstructions? If the tiedown ropes have been coiled up neatly then it becomes easy to taxi midway between them to the tiedown point.

Now the aircraft has stopped. The engine is shut down and the flight completed.

But is it? While still sitting in the aircraft, now is the time to phone CENSAR and cancel the SARWATCH.

Close the aircraft paperwork data and walk away, well, not quite yet. Get into the good habit of giving the aircraft the high five – face the aircraft, raise a hand and do a check with your fingers: 1. Are the tie down ropes on and secure? 2. Is the tail beacon off? – best to leave the beacon switch on permanently.

3. Is the security lock on? 4. Is the gust lock on? 5. And has the pitot cover been replaced? The raised hi five hand to use as a check list may seem silly but it can help to ensure that all those post-flight tasks have been done.

From an instructor’s point of view all of this may seem elementary but then our task is to pass on good safety information to our students.

It makes no difference if you are flying a Cessna or an airliner.

A little pre-flight ground planning can make for an easy beginning and end to a flight.

But it must become an ingrained habit. n Contact Dave via email at flyer02@optusnet. com. au