[Dman]

Is it acceptable to have your checklists printed out in front of you when doing your GST
Thinking along the lines of PFL checks being printed on back of log sheets on kneeboard , so when the inevitable happens and examiner pulls throttle back i can just flip sheet over and read through checks.
Struggling to remember everything, which I am sure will be worse while doing gst
I already have a checksheet for Start up, Power Checks Shut down etc.

[Flyin'Dutch']

I am not an examiner, and no doubt there are rules, but I would expect emergency checks to be committed to memory as well as other straight forward ones such as downwind checks, en route checks, pre-landing ones.

[MattL]

Your training organisation should provide you with an approved controlled checklist for the aircraft you are training on. You should use this on the ground, initial emergency actions should be performed from memory and then confirmed with the checklist if time permits. Airborne checks may be performed from memory but should be in accordance with the checklist; if you use a checklist inappropriately in the air (eg compromising lookout in circuit) it may be a debrief point.

Try and learn the cockpit flow of checklist items rather than a list of individual things, it will all come to you honest! Good luck

[Rob L]

Is it acceptable to have your checklists printed out in front of you when doing your GST....

(my snip of Dman's post)

Like FD, I'm not an flight examiner , but my gut feeling is: How on earth can you have a checklist that is not by definition printed?

Rob

[Unless the CAA allow a tablet version; which I doubt somewhat].

[leiafee]

Try and learn the cockpit flow of checklist items rather than a list of individual things, it will all come to you honest!

Def this! Try and get them almost to muscle memory. Ask if you can sit in the aircraft when not flying to do touch drills if needed.

[dc3guy]

I wouldn’t suggest you have checklists for during flight, but the act of typing any checks I needed to memorise and knowing they are in my knee board folder helped me massively. Plus it meant I had a printed list to give to my partner who would spring spot tests on me at any given moment!

[TopCat]

Is it acceptable to have your checklists printed out in front of you when doing your GST

I'm not an examiner, but I would say absolutely not.

Struggling to remember everything, which I am sure will be worse while doing gst

Well, sorry to be blunt, but put more effort into learning them then.

And not just memorising a list of words, but in detail, with visualisation of the action for each one. Work on learning them several times a day, not just when you're flying. Think carefully about each action, and understand the purpose of each one. Understanding helps with remembering.

If you think you're going to struggle to remember them in the cockpit, set up some loud distractions and work on the memorisation/visualisation until you can do it all with other stuff going on around you as well.

I already have a checksheet for Start up, Power Checks Shut down etc.

That's fine. So do I, after a lot of years and a fair number of hours.

But if you've got an emergency to deal with, you want to be getting the vital actions done and then be flying the aeroplane and looking outside, not fumbling around with checklists.

It's not an Airbus, it's a light single. There isn't all that much to do in an emergency other than the flying, so work on learning the stuff you'd need to do until you know it.

I do understand that it all seems pretty full on at this stage in your training, and sometimes overwhelming. It was for me at times. But don't be tempted to take shortcuts with the learning.

[lobstaboy]

Lots of good points above. I just want to add that, trust me on this, when you have an engine failure for real you won't be trying to find a printed checklist. You are trying to stay alive. The actions need to be as automatic as they can be so your mental capacity can be fully directed towards flying the aeroplane to your chosen landing place.
Are you flying lessons yet where you know your instructor could pull an engine failure at any time without warning in the middle of you doing some other quite complex exercise?

[Fellsteruk]

As a general rule any checks on the ground can and generally should be completed from printed list “for us new guys anyway” as they can be lengthy.

Any checks in the air should be done from memory, I know it’s hard because I was in the same place but keep at it and use Mnemonics to help remember for example:

FEAT AT 300ft after take off
Flaps away
Engine t n p ok
Altitude (Qnh set)
Trim for climb

I struggling with my checklist for engine failure as it’s a lot to remember (pick a field, mayday check and attempt restart configure for approach) then I used the controls as my prompt rather then a list. Don’t recall Cessna layout but on a Cherokee pa28 “Warrior similar” it works well to work left to right, restart, right to left. For example:

Fuel on, change tanks
Primer secure
Mags on both
Fuel pump on
Throttle open
Mix rich
Carb heat
Restart- no joy
Mix lean cutoff
Throttle close
Fuel pump off
Mags off
Fuel off
Ready to force land.

At the end of the day providing you get them all before restart and after it doesn’t matter what order you do them in. The examiner wants to see you know what to do he/she/ they ain’t expecting perfection

Personally, using the cockpit as a visual prompt for checks worked well for me.

However before starting that trim for glide and find a landing site before attempt restart so if it don’t start you already know where your going.

On my skills test I had a simulated engine failure from 4,000ft had plenty of time and all going well then about 500ft instructed to climb away at which point I had a simulated EFATO.

No way no how I was gonna be gagging with paper checklist at 600ft and dropping like a brick.

[JAFO]

If you have trouble remembering what to do try ABCD.

Airspeed
Best place to land
Checks ( left to right tends to work)
Declare emergency

Some people add E for execute landing but if the engine stops that is not one you can miss out anyway.

Good luck when the GST comes round.

[riverrock]

On the ground - do as instructed (I wasn't taught to, and don't use a written checklist on the ground, instead do a stage based cockpit flow with mnemonics).

For emergency checks, it can help to group them if a flute doesn't work for you.
Fuel (pump, tank, primer)
Air (carb heat, throttle, mixture)
Mags & Start

For landing checks, it's common to use mnemonics.

[Irv Lee]

Worth reading caa standards doc 19a when the lapl or ppl(a) skill test is in sight. On checklists:

Checklists
Throughout the flight the applicant will be expected to use the aeroplane checklist. The applicant is to assume that the test is the first flight of the day. Airborne checks may be completed from memory, or from alternative notes, but must be in accordance with the checklist and with each check item spoken aloud

So not banned at all, but I would advise learning rather than a lot of head-down reading!

[TopCat]

engine failure....

Fuel on, change tanks
Primer secure
Mags on both
Fuel pump on
Throttle open
Mix rich
Carb heat
Restart- no joy
Mix lean cutoff
Throttle close
Fuel pump off
Mags off
Fuel off
Ready to force land.

Carb heat 8th in the list? No way.

Carb heat first, and instantly at the first sign of engine spluttering. No p1ssing about with checklists, pull the damn knob out.

If it's carb ice (and engine failures often are), you cannot afford to leave any more time than is absolutely necessary before getting hot air through the carb. Once the engine is no longer developing power, the exhaust gases are not hot, so hot air isn't as hot, so it's not going to melt ice as well.

Checking that fuel is on? Eh? How did you get airborne in the first place? Have you randomly switched it off in the meantime?

Mags on both? Eh? Have you randomly switched them off in the meantime? Maybe you want to see if it'll run on one or the other rather than both if you have time, but what is the point of checking that the mags are still both? I suppose you might have inadvertently been flying on one mag and that's died, but you'll see that as soon as you look at the switch, and can make a decision where to switch to.

If you actually think about this checklist you can see that there are three elements to it.

1. Have I done something completely dumb? (eg let a tank run dry, failed to check for carb ice periodically). If you have, fixing it quickly may see the engine come roaring back to life quickly.

2. Am I going to try a restart? If you're at 500', then probably not, so don't sod about with those bits of the list, you haven't got time. At 5000', yes, almost certainly. Unless there was a big bang, the prop is now stationary, and there's oil all over the windscreen, in which case, not so much - work on your landing.

3. I'm landing in a field. Get everything switched off so that if I smack it in hard, there's less chance of fire.

This is why I say you want to think about these actions, so that when the emergency happens, it's not a mindless series of actions, it's a problem-solving process where you make judgements and decisions.

[riverrock]

Fuel pump on, as many aircraft run on engine only fuel pump once reaching the cruise. Turning on electric fuel pump will save your day if the engine driven pump fails.
Another of the most common engine failures is running a tank dry.
The fuel checks take less than 2 seconds...
If you are in an aircraft which you start on one mag only, it's easy to forget to turn on both, so if that one fails you want to be sending you have both selected.

@TopCat - you only want to think about problem solving if you are have extra time and capacity, after you have done the instructed checks and picked your field.

[JAFO]

@TopCat makes a really good point and rather than going left to right, I'll now go right to left as that takes in carb heat, fuel tank level/change and fuel pump first. I guess those are three of the most likely reasons (which I can remedy) for a donkey stopping.

Every day is a school day.