I used to shoot video for a television station and occasionally would be asked to shoot aerials for the news, mainly from fixed wing since we didn’t have easy access to a helicopter.
I was always curious as to how the pilot conducted himself and would pay close attention to take offs and landings. One pilot in particular stayed in my memory since he used a mnemonic for his take off checklist. What I don’t remember is what he was checking off with each letter of his mnemonic. I only remember him saying at the end “…and that spells C-I-G-A-R-S.” And then we took off.
Does anybody know what each letter may have stood for?
Anyone know if this is commonly used? I haven’t heard it before, but it’s possible that I just haven’t run into it in my training. In any event, it seems like the “A” (“Airplane”) is supposed to cover too much territory to be very useful.
I used to use “Too Many Fat Flying Instructors Have Crash Landings”
T - Trims set
M - Mixture rich, magnetos on both
F - Flaps set
F - Fuel cock - on, pump - on, contents - checked, primer - locked closed.
I - Instruments checked
H - Harnesses and hatches secure
C - Controls checked free
L - Lookout (supposed to be to have a look around before taxying but I’ve always thought of it as “lookout, here I come!”)
I’m more used to GUMPS, where S = Switches. Some use it to mean Safety Belts (but those should be on at all times anyway).
Even in a fixed-gear airplane, the step of checking for gear down is useful, because it gets you in the habit for doing it in retractables. If you always check, you’ll always have them where they need to be.
