I teach students to do preflight in 3 steps:
- cockpit
- exterior
- fuel
Preflight should actually begin as you are walking out to the plane – does it look right? Is it leaning to one side, or sitting funny on the ramp? Do you see any fluid under the engine cowling or by the main landing gear? Then immediately upon reaching the plane, check fuel levels – that way you can call for fuel and they can come and fuel it up while you do the rest of the preflight.
NOTE: the specifics in this series apply to Cessna 172 aircraft, as that is what I instruct in most – in any case, always use the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) for your aircraft to confirm that you have not missed anything on your preflight!
Step 1 really starts after that. Turn on just the battery side of the master switch, and listen for the electric turn coordinator gyro to start spinning up… it will sound like a computer fan. Then turn on all the electric switches (taxi light, landing light, nav lights, strobe lights, beacon, and pitot heat). Check your ammeter or load meter (load meter should show a definite load, and ammeter should show a discharge and your “low voltage” light should be on, if you have one.
Now do a quick walk around, checking all these lights. Yes, even if you are flying during the day. This is part safety and part courtesy. Even during the day, these lights can make you easier to see for traffic avoidance, so you will want to know whether they are working or not. Courtesy-wise, you’ll want to “squawk” any light that isn’t working so that any pilot who has that plane scheduled to fly at night can be notified or can be switched to a different plane – one that is “legal” for night flight with all the lights working. I know I would be unhappy as a renter if I showed up to fly at night and no one had checked the lights all day. I’ve been in exactly this situation, and I would have rather stayed home than made the trip to the airport just to not be able to fly that night.
The last check at this point is the pitot heat. CAREFULLY touch the pitot tube after your walk-around… It should be getting warm. You should always be careful here, because the pitot heat gets HOT if it is working, and could be very hot depending on the length of time your walk-around took.
Once pitot heat is confirmed, turn off all the switches in the cockpit except the master battery. Turn ON the avionics master switch, and listen for the heat fan (if equipped). Wait for any GPS or other electronics to go through their full “boot up” before turning the avionics master back off.
Now drop the flaps, check the fuel gauges to make sure they are working, and once the flaps are fully deployed, turn off the master battery switch and take out the control lock.
Make note of anything that isn’t working, and talk to your instructor about whether (and how) you can still fly legally and safely with inoperative equipment.
Don’t forget to check for AROW (these things are required for the plane to be considered airworthy):
A – Airworthiness Certificate
R – Registration
O – Operating Limitations (Pilot’s Operating Handbook [POH] & placards)
W – Weight & Balance (should be in the aircraft-specific POH in the plane)
Stay tuned for step 2 of the preflight – exterior!
What would you add to the interior / cockpit check? Check it off your list by adding a comment below!
Andrew Hartley is a certificated flight instructor in Columbus, Ohio.
Preflight Series:
Preflight Step 1: The Cockpit Check
Preflight Step 2: Exterior (Wing)
Preflight Step 2: Exterior (Tail)
Preflight Step 2: Exterior (Engine)
Preflight Step 3: Fuel
Make sure the cockpit is organized. Maps are where you want them, POH is in reach, flashlight is handy if it is a night flight etc. Organizing the cockpit organizes your mind to conduct an organized preflight, which further sets the conditions for an organized flight
Sean:
Thanks for the comment! I agree 100%… especially when you are flying single-pilot, it is critical to use all the tools that are available to you to make your flight safe! This is when CRM (CREW resource management) becomes CRM (COCKPIT resource management). Organization can only help you ensure that what you need is there for you when you need it!
We’ll be talking in future posts about how to use your “virtual crew” (Flight Service, Air Traffic Control, etc.) to help enhance your safety and situational awareness even further!
Do you have any specific hints to stay organized in the cockpit? What tools work for you? How do you do it?
Tailwinds,
Andrew
Never lower the flaps past the maximum takeoff flap setting during preflight. That will still enable you to inspect the mechanism fully, and if they get stuck down you can still fly. If you lower them further and they get stuck then so are you.
Dr. ATP: that makes a lot of sense! Never really thought about it that way, since I’m instructing and we don’t HAVE to be anywhere, and there are (usually) other planes to use if ours “breaks.”
Ever had that actaully happen to you? How far did you have to go with partial flaps?
Tailwinds,
Andrew
Andrew you are a very tactful instructor-thank you for your interesting article on pre-flight inspection.
My teaching is slight different.
Dr ATP says never set flaps full for a pre flight. I suggest if you are checking any flying surface that moves check it through the full range on at least the first flight of the day. This is what we call a Check A in the UK(first flight of the day inspection). The whole point of the inspection is to check normal operation and normal means full range!
Not only check the full range but check each stage and check indication comparison. Check when the flaps are at ‘flaps zero’ there is no droop on either flap.
We do not follow the old practice of lifting the flaps when in the cockpit, the flaps are lifted to flaps zero as part of the Check A.
This reduces the possibility of taxing out and taking off with full flap still down and yes I have seen it done in a C172 and all on board(4) were killed (High Wycombe Airfield near London).
We also teach two distinct different preflight inspections:
1. Check A (first flight of the day)
2. Transit Check (check other than a Check A)
Usually no flap cycling will take place on a transit check, only an indication check and comparison.
Andrew you say
Preflight should actually begin as you are walking out to the plane
Our light aircraft technical logs are not kept in the aircraft and all pre flight inspections must start with the technical log. No point in doing a 20 minute inspection and ordering fuel to find the a/c has been grounded, out of maintenance review or will become out of check before you finish or the a/c has a non allowable defect.Tech log fuel logs must be referenced against actual tank contents, this means dipping on Cessans for us.
I wouldnt group your checks in the way you have as the cockpit check proper comes after the preflight inspection when you are sitting in the aircraft and that applies to an Airbus or a C172! What you are doing is initially preparing to do the external inspection by making certain selections in the cockpit. In addition some other checks which may be difficult when you are seated, for instance checking the lap strap and diagonal belt, first aid kit and extinguisher none of which you mentioned in part one. On the Cessnas seat movement and locking is a particularly important heck,many have slipped back on take off.
As you point out fuel is the major number one consideration when arriving at the aircraft, we also include switching fuel on as well as exercising the cocks.
We employ Situational Awareness and Threat & Error Checks to all stage of flight and flight preparation.
So while approaching the aircraft we would (copied from my manual)
Situation awareness starts in the briefing room with comprehensive flight planning covering all aspects of flight. SA is about BEING FULLY AWARE OF YOUR CURRENT SITUATION AND THINKING AND PLANNING AHEAD. As you walk towards the a/c think about the area and ground around the a/c. How will it affect your taxy? Is it wet grass which could cause the a/c to slip and slide? Is the ground flat? How long is the grass, are there any undulations? Are there any aircraft parked close by that could compromise our progress? Would it be better if we taxied out a different way? Will the wind affect us? In others words don’t just take things as they come, try to involve your thought process in what will happen when we start moving and progress forward. Situation awareness is about THINKING AHEAD and a very important skill to learn. You must get into the habit of constantly planning and thinking ahead throughout this course.
I would also add to that you need to check for tie down blocks (several pilots have tried to taxy and even take off with them still attached admittedly on low wing aircraft but you are teaching habit!. One instructor on our airfield recently tried to taxy with the tow bar still attached and he is by no mean the first!
One final thing, I always teach check the prop area before ever turning the master switch on, if you don’t understand why ask a mechanic to fit a stuck starter solenoid to your a/c and see what happened when you turn the master switch on!
Safe flying
Captain Jon
@askcaptainjon
Captain Jon:
Wow! What fantastic information, and some great processes!
You are absolutely right that maintenance logs need to be checked, especially if you are unfamiliar with the flight school or club or FBO you are flying out of. At one of the flight schools where I teach, the plane is dispatched to the student, and the dispatcher briefs the student on the current status of the plane, including time remaining until next inspection (tach time until 50- or 100-hour or calendar time until annual), as well as Airworthiness Directives (ADs), cessna seat lock inspection, and even whether or not the VOR is current (within 30 days for instrument flight). At another, the time/date of next inspection is posted and updated every few days, and the first thing we do is check and make note of that time so we can compare it to the tachometer time when we start the preflight.
I group them in this way because I do them as a flow, and then double-check the checklist against what I did during the flow. I absolutely call the cockpit check part of the preflight; if you are going to set up certain things for the external inspection, you might as well check the other things you can while you are in there – even if you have to recheck them later when you are running your checklists for before engine start, taxi, pre-takeoff, climb, cruise, etc. Why not check them early and often? Importantly, and as an example, if you check the functionality of the ammeter while you are loading the battery anyway while dropping flaps and doing a quick walkaround to confirm all lights are working, you don’t have to “reconfirm” it is working by flipping the lading light on and off (again) during run-up and adding another cycle to an already failure-prone item. Checking your fuel gauges at this time also reminds you to physically, visually check the fuel if you haven’t already, which you can now do before the external preflight.
I’m certainly not defending my preflight check process – rather, I’m offering some more insight into why I do mine the way I do. That said, I’m ALWAYS open to suggestions and improvements!
I particularly like the specifics of your “Situational Awareness and Threat & Error Checks” – I would include looking for chocks, tiedowns, and tow bars in the “walking out to the airplane” and all of the walkaround, whether it be for lights/electronics or any of the external portion of the preflight. I also like your reminder about making sure the prop area is always clear before turning the master on, even for preflight. That is something to consider, most certainly! Hearing that starter kick on by simply flipping the master would be scary indeed!
Thank you for your great comment! Lots to learn from there!
Tailwinds,
Andrew
Ah – I see where the fuel confusion is in the initial checklist at the top of this post… I teach to check fuel LEVEL as soon as you walk out, and fuel QUALITY (sumping to check grade and contaminants – as well as a recheck of levels) at the end.
That way, if you need to get fuel, you can make the call early, and the fuel also has time to settle from being stirred up by having it added before you do the quality check (and recheck those levels).
Tailwinds,
Andrew
I think we are getting confused with words here. There is an external inspection (pre flight) and a cockpit inspection (pre flight). In ours both are different depending if it is the first flight of the day or not.
Our pre start Ammeter check is done with the anti collision light because of its distinct pulsing movement and then again after engine start. So yes the ammeter is checked just before the walk round.
My policy is to check the fuel drains for the first flight of the day only unless:
Night flying,student solo flying,flight over water or after heavy rain, always checked 30 mins after refueling.
At any time with fuel from a fuel supplier who isn’t our normal supplier.
We/I also use a flow check photograph to start teaching cockpit checks which is then eventually done from memory as a flow check but all other ground checks are done from a checklist.
Its good to hear everybody’s different checks and tips and I am already thinking of introducing your AD checks. In my experience being a good instructor means constantly acquiring new information and I find you can even learn from students if you encourage them to be creative and contribute.
Latest tips from my students are:
Evacuating solo quickly from a C152:
Lay over pax seat tuck your knees up and then straight out the door.
Carb heat-never take your hand off it while checking till you put it back to cold.
Keep those tips coming!
I see this statement over on the right her “great pilots are made not born”. Sure this is a great thing to say as a CFI cause it makes a guy money but it isn’t true.
Flying is equipment operation, just like running an excavator, backing up a truck with two trailers, running a farm tractor etc. When it comes to equipment operation people generally have it or they don’t.
If you’re a farm boy or say the kind of guy that can ride his dirt bike in a wheelie while shifting gears then YOU GOT IT and you can become a great pilot.
You hear all these stories of heartache in flight training, about people spending a fortune and not making it, taking 2 to 3 times the minimum hours to get their tickets. It’s usually cause they ain’t got it and some flight school has conned them into spending all their money in the pursuit of something they will never be really good at.
Think about it before you spend a fortune on flight training.
Statement on the left, yeah I’m dyslexic but I can still fly the hell out of a plane