Before a military pilot goes solo, he/she has to successfully demonstrate the ability to locate switches blindfolded. It is not without reason. And this is checked periodically, generally every fortnight along with critical emergency actions.
The pilot is made to sit in the cockpit as if during flight with eyes shut and instructor checks out pilots’ ability to locate and activate cockpit switches, to make sure they could find them in a nerve blinding situation (bird strike, smoke in the cockpit, electrical failure by night, etc.). This practice remains with many of them years after they retire from active military flying.
Quickly finding any switch in the cockpit during an emergency might be a crucial task especially when flying aircraft is a primary task. Whether you fly the same airplane or different airplanes, I recommend a simple routine. Every time before the start, spend 30 seconds doing a full scan of every switch and knob in the cockpit, just to refresh your memory. Similarly, before you line up for takeoff mentally go over actions of few critical emergencies like reject take-off and engine failure after liftoff.
Many of us don’t fly as much as we’d like to, and most of us don’t fly anywhere near as much as a full-time professional pilot. Most of the time we fly the same aircraft but they might not have identical switch locations. Over the years cockpit might have been modified or upgraded. It is worth spending a few extra seconds before you push the throttle.
I highly recommend that blind fold check should include following switches:
- POWER LEVER
- FUEL SHUTOFF SWITCH
- FUEL BOOST PUMP SWITCH
- STARTER SWITCH
- ENGINE TEMPERATURE GAUGE
- ENGINE / PROPELLER RPM GAUGE
- ENGINE OIL PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE GAUGE
- BATTERY SWITCH
- ELECTRICAL AC, DC SWITCH AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS
- LANDING GEAR SELECTOR AND INDICATOR
- FLAP LEVER AND INDICATOR
- ATTITUDE GYRO
- VOLT/AMMETER
- AIRSPEED, ALTIMETER, COMPASS
- FIRE EXTINGUISHER
- FUEL QUANTITY INDICATOR
- FUEL TRANSFER LEVER
Happy Landing.
