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I recently ran a cross an interesting article in Air Force Magazine about the B-17 and the crucial role that aircraft had in fostering the use of checklists in aviation.Apparently the experimental B-17 called the Boeing Model 299 crashed during testing at Wright Field in the mid-30's and the cause was attributed to the pilot failing to release the elevator locks before take-off. The simple and elegant solution both Boeing and the Air Force came up with was checklists to be used as pilt memory aids to avoid stupid mistakes. Of course, a checklist is only as good as the use to which it was put. But I find it interesting that it was Americans yet again, who developed and elegantly simple solution to a complex probelm.
I never go through a checklist with my car. I don't test the brakes, the steering, or check the engine fluids/fuel etc…every time I get in. I can see that being normal in the early days of aviation.
I never go through a checklist with my car. I don't test the brakes, the steering, or check the engine fluids/fuel etc...every time I get in. I can see that being normal in the early days of aviation.
Isn't that because a checklist is already done automatically in your car? When you turn your car on, lights flash briefly on your dash and if they go off, you're good to go. Actually, you are probably right in the sense that in the days of early aviation, there were fewer things to check before takeoff, thereby making a checklist less obvious.
According to the article they relied on memory to pre-flight the aricraft. I talked to my brother who is a pilot and IP rated who expressed increduilty that anyone would get in something as complex as an aircraft relying on memory alone to ensure the craft was properly prepared.
So in that document linked to above:
The use of computers on the flight deck allows for automated monitoring of flight status(Wiener, 1989). On-board computers can alert the crew when certain configuration itemshave not been accomplished and display the actual status of the plane. The computer canbe used to verify that certain items have been accomplished and thereby substantiallyreduce the number of items on the checklist.
So I imagine this is how the checklist in automobiles has progressed.
