Checklists, single engine day vfr jobs

[oldtimer]

Widow - You just brought up some interesting points. I have, somewhere in my pile of junk, a thing done by the Flight Safety Foundation on checklist design and one factor they explore is complacency, where you do repetitive things daily and it gets boring. There suggestion is a short, complete checklist done on a single page that just jogs your memory and hits the highlights.
How much training does a pilot receive? The CARS is quite specific about the minimum required and trust me, it is THE MINIMUM. Multi IFR requires 1.5 hours annually for a simple piston twin or smaller turbine (9 seats) or 2 hours for a larger pressurized twin. Large airplanes and jets require Sim training. Now that is the minimum, but how many operators "pencil whip" training on singles flown by experienced pilots.
"That old geezer knows more about flying than I do. He doesn't need training".
With that attitude, training gets pencil whipped. Then along comes someone who need remedial training and the die is cast. Just sign him off and he will be good.
I have just been doing check rides in the Sim in Dallas Texas and as far as I am concerned, that is the way to go with complex airplanes, except for 3 important thingees. It is done in the USA and they do things differently down there. They do not always have the same airplanes and they do not know your SOP's.
But what is important is that in the sim, you are away from home, away from distractions, you cannot be pulled out of the class to go do a pop up trip, you are there to do training and a checkride. But it is expensive.
In my humble opinion, what is required is not the full blown full motion flight sims like they use for the airlines and jets but an independent training organization of some sort that travels from region to region conducting training courses. We have to make the thing cost effective. Training done by trainers, not company pilots. With many smaller companies, the training pilot is usually the one who was not quick enough to escape the attention of the chief pilot. Could not get out of the office quick enough. What is really required is a whole new think on the subject of training. It is usually not the individual pilots who are to bame, but the owners. Training cost. More times than enough, the cost of training is higher than the cost of an accident, beside, we are bullet proof.
The small operators with one or two airplanes and a couple of pilots are the ones most at risk.
I my humble opinion anyway.
In our organization, we have specifically designed the checklist to reflect what is required in the airplane, what is required during a specific flight and what pilots do. It follows the cockpit flow and is done on a single page. The challenge is simple, the response reflects today. As an example, we have an item called ANTI-ICE . The reader challenges and the PF responds with what has been turned on. Some times it is quick, like Windshield Heat Low, Pilot and SAS Heat On, Ignition Auto. Other times it can be very lengthy, to reflect bad weather requirements.
The Emergency and Abnormal Procedures checklist are untouched from what is provided in the Airplane Flight Manual except for the fact we have made the booklet smaller to fit in the sidewall pockets.