Breaking The Routine

Posted by flysynergy on Sep 24, 2012 in Flight Safety | Comments Off on Breaking The Routine By David Wood Deputy CFI (Old Sarum) – “Breaking the Routine”   Checklists and drills are jolly useful things. They jog our memories; they help us not to overlook important items. They also take off us some of the mental load at times of stress by ‘automating’ actions or sequences of actions that might otherwise absorb our thought and attention; but they have a downside. Precisely because we sometimes do them without thinking, we also sometimes do them without noticing. And therein lies a peril. Here are some examples: Take the common-or-garden Flapless Approach. If I had a pound for every time I’ve seen this happen then I’d be able to pay for avgas these days without wincing. The pilot turns onto base leg for a flapless approach. He knows what he’s doing. He’s relaxed and confident. He reduces power early just like he’s been taught. He remembers to take it right off and just to trickle it back on because he’s not going to have the extra drag to pull against. He trims for his flapless approach speed and he doesn’t lower flap ‘cos it’s a flapless landing, right? He turns onto finals and calls “Finals”, just tickling the power to keep his angle of approach correct without upsetting his carefully held speed. He’s in the groove and he’s doing well. He moves his hands to the flap lever but he remembers just in time and he doesn’t lower the rest of the flap as he usually does because it’s a flapless landing. He returns his hand to the throttle, concentrating on maintaining his approach; which is looking pretty good, by the way. And very often, perhaps eight times out of ten, he doesn’t remember to put the Carb Heat to cold. Why? Because he’s got used to doing both actions together. He’s built up a little routine. The actions have blended themselves into one little semi-automatic sequence. ‘Check up the approach, turn onto finals, make the call, set the flap, set the carb heat’. Knock out one of those actions and there is a high probability that another one or two drop out also. Don’t worry, we’ve all done it. Here’s another. We’re at the top of the climb on a warm summer’s day. The pilot levels off and does his FREDA check just like he’s been taught. He applies carb heat. He checks the fuel: the quantity is OK, the pressure is good, the pump is now off. He checks the radio, it’s set up...
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