Using flows to fly like an airline crew

[@jaygallamore562]

Good idea and video. Retired Navy pilot here - when acting as co-Pilot I wrote clearances, etc. with a grease pencil on a plexiglass plate mounted on the side panel of the cockpit. As a technique, whenever I got interrupted executing a checklist I would transfer the pencil to my left (non-dominant) hand and keep it there until I could resume the checklist at the item where we paused. Fly safe…

[@FlyingShotsman]

Excellent video. Another tip from the airline cockpit, for GA pilots who have regular passengers like a spouse or close friend: train that person to read checklists for you. This has several benefits in the GA cockpit. Your regular passenger becomes more engaged in flying, they have a better understanding of what it takes to safely operate an aircraft, they gain confidence by participating in an improved "safety culture," and most importantly, they can potentially prevent a mishap by catching a mistake. To make best use of this technique, you'll accomplish your flow, then call for the appropriate checklist. The passenger (the airline world calls them the Pilot Monitoring) should read each item, then look up and verify that you're touching or pointing to the correct control or instrument, and that your verbal response matches the actual condition. If you point to the wrong item or your response isn't right, they should stop you and question the error. With experience, they'll know when it's time for each checklist and should be empowered to prompt you to call for it.

[@ClearedAsFiled]

Great concept.....wish I would have known about this in the 90's when I did my initial flight training....THANKS

[@AlphaKilo.Warrior]

Super video, Love me a good ole GUMPS too! Keep these great videos coming. PS - Im glad to hear, I am not the only one that talked to myself in the cockpit.

[@catherinecavagnaro8]

Excellent advice! Thanks, Chris.

[@AS-tb7kg]

Great idea. Thank you

[@PabloDezon]

Please, where can we find the NASA stud that you mentioned in the video? Can you please provide the link?

[@markjones7063]

Retired cargo captain here. When I fly a 172 I insist on using every single entry on a thorough checklist... and I've been flying that same 172 for 15 years. By the way, flows were forbidden by our opspecs, so not all airlines are allowed to use them.

[@markguenin9114]

I disagree. There's a reason the "read-do" (your terminology) checklist approach is taught to beginners, and that's because IT WORKS. Your "do-verify" recommendation can be summarized as follows: "1) memorize a whole bunch of checklists 2) execute the one for *this particular phase of flight*, then 3) use an actual checklist to make sure you've accomplished that set of tasks." It's hard to believe anyone would recommend that, especially for GA pilots for whom flying is not an everyday event. Step #2 is subject to memory error and distraction, and step #3 is subject to confirmation bias. The studies you quoted where errors were detected -- did they analyze how the steps were missed? If the "do-verify" method is used universally in airlines, the number of missed items you quoted in that study would suggest it's not a very effective method. Did they do a head-to-head comparison of the "read-do" method versus the "do-verify" method? If not, the entire impetus for your video is null and void. I'm not an ATP. But from all the aviation videos I've watched, I have a hard time believing that when the pilot-not-flying (PNF) reads the before-landing checklist and comes across each item -- let's say the "gear down" item -- that the pilot-flying (PF) has already executed it. What on earth? Are you recommending the PF do these things in a random order (just when it occurs to him or her) so that when the PNF reads it on the checklist, the PF can say "Already done"? To me, that approach only makes sense for memory (emergency) items, which is exactly what my fresh-outta-UND flight instructor taught me way back when: Use a flow (when the engine falters) to automatically do the T-shaped-from-below things (in a C-172: fuel selector valve BOTH; throttle FORWARD; mixture RICH; carb heat ON; and I'm probably missing something since I haven't flown a C-172 in years). Otherwise, use a checklist the way it was intended: Read-Do. That's why all EFISs have an electronic checklist that you can actually check off before proceeding to the next one as appropriate. Read it; check it off when you do it; go on to the next one. Interestingly, @MartyBecker pointed out @missionarybushpilot 's Buddy Check box. If you watch his videos, he actually uses it in a "read-do" manner, not a "do-verify". See, for example 26:05 in his most recent video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5DUp6SdndSHi68 where he says "Lights and inlets are... done", he's clearly reading from his Buddy Check, then executing what it says. The preceding items were already satisfactorily set due to the phase of flight. For instance, he'd previously set his prop full-forward to dive rapidly. Chances are great he wouldn't have done so with passengers on board or with less altitude to lose. He would've just done it when the checklist said to do so. Flaps: he sets when he gets to that item in the checklist. And so forth. Finally, why on earth are you using a generic checklist. "Autopilot: not installed in this airplane so no worries there." How much effort would it take to make your own checklist that deletes all that extraneous information? Sorry to be so biting, but this approach has always baffled me.

[@jesknow]

Read and do has its limitations. If you miss something, you missed it. A flow gives you a muscle memory routine AND a chance to catch an error. It’s also easy to read and reply without verifying what you read whereas a flow has you “do”. I agree with flows backed up with checklists 100%. Airliners use flows and for emergencies typically have “memory items” which aren’t a flow but a checklist that is committed to memory (which is basically a flow but written down just not read). 11 years mixed GA pistons twins, corporate jets and regionals. As an example for a 2 crew turboprop operation: PF calls “gear down” at that point the PM selects gear down, advances the condition levers to full forward, selects autofeather on, configures the pneumatic panel for landing and whatever else the company SOPs dictate. Then upon calling for final flaps the PF also announces “before landing checklist” at which point the PM engages in a challenge and response checklist where all actions have already been completed with flows. Airlines are safe for a reason.

[@tallishyeti2756]

If you did the read-do method in a complex airplane with the manufactures checklist, it would take you 30 minutes to get off the ground. The airlines and every other professional aviation organization know what they’re doing. You teach very structured flows that can quickly and easily be performed by memory and then use the checklist to double check the things that can kill you.