Expanded Preflights
Thanks for Ryan Motte’s January 2024 article on pre-flight inspections, “Expanding Your Preflights.” I especially appreciate the sidebar on post-flight inspections, which I think are under utilized.
I’d expand your list of items to check after a flight. Of course, the extent of a post-flight we perform has a lot to do with any problems or anomalies we experienced on the way in, but a little extra attention can make getting out again a lot simpler and quicker.
Examples could include verifying fluid quantities—certainly including fuel and oil but also TKS, and replenishing them—cleaning windows and organizing the cabin.
Ryan’s comments about struggling to combat complacency also resonate with me. He’s absolutely right when he writes, “Lessons learned the hard way, through errors or unsafe situations, stick the hardest.”
Thanks again!
—Mike Stevens, Via email
You’re absolutely right. We’d also add items like verifying the parking brake is appropriately set, gust locks and engine plugs are installed, and the airplane is either tied down or hangared. We’ve heard many stories about weather moving or damaging airplanes that weren’t properly secured.
As for complacency…we’ve all been there, and we’ve hopefully learned our lessons. Too often, these pages are filled with examples of lessons learned too late.
Listen Up
Another benefit to obtaining VFR flight following (“Someone To Watch Over Me,” January 2024) is the experience pilots can gain from interacting with ATC. Even new private pilots often have problems dealing with controllers and keeping up with the “party line” atmosphere on many frequencies.
Yes, flight following is a situational awareness tool and eases entry into complicated airspace, but your advice to listen to ATC and what’s going on to get the big picture is spot-on. I would sum up flight following’s value by reminding pilots we typically can’t learn much when we’re talking and not listening.
—Nigel Cook, Via email
Since VFR flight following is essentially free to anyone with a radio, it makes a lot of sense to use it as additional tool to help with our situational awareness. As you note, it’s also excellent experience for pilots looking to make aviation a career or just more satisfying.
It can be great entertainment, too, when weather or traffic conspire to work ATC too hard. It’s highly recommended.
