Learning to fly, or thinking of learning? Post your questions, comments and experiences here

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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884480
Recently I have booked 2 lessons on the same day.

Arrive, do full pre-flight checks, fly lesson, land, have a cup of tea, walk back out to the same aircraft.

So, my question is.... what pre-start checks should I do before the second flight?

What I have done -
A walk round just to look for anomalies with structure and tyres. Not so much prodding / moving as my initial check.
Oil level.
Fuel contamination check but only from fuel strainer (ie, lowest part of system. C152)
ie, much less than what may be termed Check A.

I should reassure readers that cockpit checks, after-start, power checks, and vital actions (including full & free and the RobP cinch) were done in full on every occasion :mrgreen:
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By VRB_20kt
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884491
For me, the minimum is a walkround, oil and fuel dip. But since you're in training, I would ask your instructor's opinion. Do be on your guard though and don't get lulled into skipping vital actions.

(Also, your instructor does multiple flights per day in the same aircraft. Watch his/her actions.)
T6Harvard liked this
#1884505
Bank balance? Only joking (well, half joking - depends on what you're learning on)!

Your instructor will guide you as to the correct checks to do, but for me I would ignore the fact that YOU flew it last and instead would start from the assumption that you don't know who flew it previously and you didn't see their landing.

Personally, I don't check fuel contamination if I haven't refilled it. But I would check fuel level and oil; I'd check the wheels/tyre/bungee/suspension and anything else that might have been susceptible if the landing was a bit firm. But otherwise, just a general walkaround and a closer look at any specific points of failure (on the C42, I recall there is a particular weld for the elevator tubing which - if it cracks - doesn't end well, for example). Then the usual start checks etc.

You should have a copy of the POH which details what the checks should be for your a/c - if not, search for a download it (and read it - will be full of useful bits to commit to memory, or just take interest in).
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By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884513
If I've been away from the aeroplane, I always do an external check of the control surfaces to make sure they move freely (you never know who's bumped into it), and also air intake and fuel tank vents, as you never know if a crisp bag has blown into the former or a bee got stuck in the latter.

Then fuel and oil, then the internal pre-start checklist from the top.
#1884518
flyingearly wrote:Personally, I don't check fuel contamination if I haven't refilled it.

Some aircraft have fuel caps that may not always be as tightly sealed as one would expect, so if I've left the aircraft outside and it's been raining in the interval it's smart to check for water contamination. Among the aircraft that I fly, there's a PA28 Archer III with recessed fuel caps that has this issue.

A walk-around, including fuel- and oil check, doesn't take all that long, so the smartest thing is to use the same routine as for the first flight of the day. Personally, I tend to skip the light checks if the second (or third,...) flight of the day if it's still daylight. In particular if I don't have a fellow pilot to run around to do the checks while I switch the lights on and off. I always check it on my first flight of the day, even if someone else has flown before me.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884534
I have no desire to cut necessary checks, I enjoy them and treat every check as a challenge to find something :D but my question arose because I was told there was no need for a 'check A' when we returned to the aircraft. That got me wondering what was essential in the circs. Of course I should have asked at the time and I will ask next week :mrgreen:

It has made me recap though and I am pretty sure I missed something big. We re-fuelled before the FIRST lesson and I don't remember doing a fuel contamination check afterwards......I'm aware that we'd have to wait to give the tanks time to settle out any water but I think we just got back in and did power checks and vital actions. Yikes!
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884548
Check A is before the first flight each day. After that transit checks between flights which usually involve a walk round to look for anything unusual and a check of oil/fuel levels.

Fuel contamination check after refuelling shouldn't be necessary as the fuel delivery system should be checked, but it can't do any harm and there was a recent incident at Cannes (I think) where the delivery system was contaminated and and at least one aircraft was lost....
#1884552
I was taught what my instructor termed a Transit Check.

Once around the aircraft at a distance looking for obvious anomalies and taxiing obstructions, check for control locks or pitot cover, dip the oil, climb in and start it up.

Rob P
T6Harvard, Cessna571 liked this
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884553
Paul_Sengupta wrote:
TopCat wrote:and also air intake and fuel tank vents, as you never know if a crisp bag has blown into the former or a bee got stuck in the latter.

Pitot tube too.

Absolutely, thanks for adding that. I do check that as well. All the open orifices, basically.
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By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884581
TopCat wrote:
T6Harvard wrote:Transit Check is obviously the phrase I needed.

Never heard the term in 30 years until here! I mean, I do live under a rock aviation-wise, but is it really in common use?


Yup.

Also annotated as such in many POH/Checklists.

But main thing is that people have a think about what they do (as I am sure you do) and don't just hop in and away they blast.

I do the same as what @Rob P suggested minus the oil check.

Rationale - can't do it when the engine is really hot after a short stop so I have decided that I look at the exhaust and for oil streaks on the cowling and fuselage wing.

So far served me well.

If people do a full A check before hopping in too then that would of course entirely their prerogative - unless they do the fuel straining too; as that would suggest they don't understand what they are doing.
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#1884582
What FD says
I think of it as a walk round to check if anything is obviously broken - things hanging at the wrong angle, wires dangling, holes where small boys have poked it with a stick..
Then is anything leaking? Oil streaks, water, hydraulic fluid, air (tyres).
No point checking the oil, it takes hours to drain back.

Your instructor may ask you to do a full A check for practice, but I do what I've just outlined between all flights on the same day.
#1884593
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:I do the same as what @Rob P suggested minus the oil check.

That's probably more sensible. I think the oil check is almost a talisman. After all, if there isn't a pool of oil on the tarmac, most of it is probably still in the Lycoming. :D

Rob P
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