Look, then launch

This is old hat to any pilot, but for an ab initio such as myself the business of a daily inspection and the pre-flight was a new concept.

When I drive a car, I walk out of the house, lock the door, unlock the car, get in, fasten seatbelt, start, and drive off. Check the oil? If the light doesn't go off after the engine starts I'll worry about it then. Flat tire? The thumping noise will alert me.

But when you fly, before every day's flight there is a Daily Inspection. And before every flight the ship gets pre-flighted.

Daily Inspection follows a checklist, and at my club we keep the book (one page per day) in a ziplock baggie under the pilot's seat. The day of my second flight I showed up at the field rather early, and John (my instructor from my first flight) was already there. His first comment was "hi, glad you're here, let's put you to work." And so we walked over the 2-33 and we went through the DI. First the canopy cover and tie-downs are removed, and we go over every inch of the aircraft. Every hinge, every support, every cable, every pin is examined to make sure everything that should be present, is present.

If interupted, you go back to where you know have checked, and restart from the checkpoint. Checking something twice is much preferable to missing something.

We finish by giving the end of the wing a good shake and bouncing things around, just to see if everything bounces in syncronization. Hook up the tractor and pull it out to the flightline.

If you're not happy about anything, you get a second opinion. The ship does not fly until it passes the DI.

In addition, before every flight the Pilot In Command (PIC) is responsible for giving the aircraft the quick once-over before the flight. During the DI we remove inspection panels and peek in the corners -- the pre-flight is a quick once-over in comparison, just to ensure there was no damage resulting from the previous flight.

More learning lessons from the flightline. I must check my tire pressure and engine oil more often than quarterly.