As you’re already aware, earning a pilot certificate is a fun and rewarding experience that will provide you with a lifetime of thrills and excitement.  But it’s also a license to learn and requires a system of continuing education and proficiency.

First, a word of caution – while your flying fundamentals will no doubt be sharp when you earn your ticket, the majority of your training and checkride preparation was likely spent close to home.  This isn’t a bad thing, but there is still a wealth of knowledge and skill to be gained during the flying that will come beyond the certificate.  Aeronautical decision making and judgment is a constant “work-in-process.”  It’s quite likely that not a lot of experience has been gained at this point in flying cross-country, managing weather, planning for alternates, communicating with ATC or dealing with equipment malfunctions. In other words, you’ll need to commit time to determining what your personal limitations will look like as a newly-certificated pilot.

Here is my advice for maintaining proficiency, gaining experience and managing personal minimums.

1) Fly – Yes, it sounds too basic to believe and you may even want to laugh, but you’d be surprised at the number of new pilots that do little or no flying after the certificate.  The reasons are numerous, but one that I’ve heard is that there’s no longer a commitment to come to the airport to meet the instructor for a lesson.  Seriously?  The certificate is a gateway…an open door to freedom and adventure.  Share that experience with friends or family and take a leisurely flight.  Make the commitment to fly.

2) Master the avionics – Regardless of your panel’s complexity, there is technology to be mastered.  Achieving the level of proficiency where control inputs become instinctive, while already task saturated, can literally save the day.  Like anything, this is knowledge that will degrade over time, so study your manuals and take advantage of simulator programs and training videos.  As a start, you’ll want to be thoroughly familiar with your aircraft’s autopilot and GPS.

3) Checklists & flows – Use a checklist AND flight deck flow for all of your procedures.  Aviation happens to be at the forefront when it comes to checklist usage.  The safest operations I’m familiar with typically use multiple checklist styles and layers for added safety that will evolve with time and experience.

In a to-do system, you would methodically read through each item on the checklist and then perform the necessary task as you come to the item.  As you become more familiar with an aircraft, you should consider and develop “flows” – an organized and consistent pattern of moving around the flight deck to accomplish items required of the upcoming checklist. 

Undoubtedly you’ve learned or developed a mental checklist or if not, you likely will at some point.  There’s the famous “GUMPS” as a before landing (G – gas, U – undercarriage, M – mixture, P – prop, S – seatbelt & switches) and “CIGAR” as a before takeoff.  The mental checklist will serve as another valuable layer of redundancy and perhaps even a lifesaver in a critical situation with little or not time to consult a written list.  

4) Thorough Pre-Flight/Post-Flight Procedures Review

A safe flight starts with a thorough preflight to minimize the chance of any surprises.  Get in the habit of reviewing weather, routes, performance, terrain, and contingency plans. This review should also include available airports along your route.

Also carefully study airport layouts and taxiway diagrams for your airports of intended use.  e particularly aware of any traps or hot spots.  And again, plan for alternate airports even in good weather – this exercise will keep you sharp if a diversion is ever necessary for weather, a malfunction or even a bathroom break.

Don’t miss the valuable post-flight opportunity. The time to discover items requiring attention on the aircraft is after a flight so issues can be addressed ahead of your next flight.

5) Meaningful Flight Reviews – A flight review doesn’t just need to be accomplished when the regulations say so.  A flight review can happen anytime and you should voluntarily participate in meaningful proficiency training.  Venture outside your comfort zone with an instructor in the interest of your personal development.

6) Maintain the personal minimums discipline – Finally, regardless of your adherence to a proficiency program, the discipline is ultimately adhering to those personal minimums. Personal minimums are just that – personal.  It’s not something you can read in a book. Stay within your comfort zone, continuously question your guidelines and remember, an occasional feeling of trepidation is healthy.

Some aviation tips are in the “commandments” category: never land with less than an hour of fuel on board, never take off over gross weight, never fly below minimums on an instrument approach. My personal favorite is, “never run out of airspeed and ideas at the same time.” Violating one of these rules means you are courting danger.

While these tips are all true, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other, smaller tips that can reduce risk. In fact, as pilots there’s a lot we can do to increase the safety margins of every flight just by keeping a few good habits.

Here are seven I try follow in the cockpit:

1. Set the altimeter to field elevation as soon as you get in the airplane. This may not be exactly correct, and you’ll want to fine tune the setting before takeoff (via ATIS or AWOS), but getting the altimeter in the ballpark is a good hedge against making a 1,000-foot error. This can happen if the barometric pressure has changed dramatically since your last flight. I once set the altimeter for -500 feet, thinking it was actually at 500 feet (the correct altitude). This habit gives you two chances to catch any errors, and takes just a few seconds.

2. Set the heading bug on the runway you are using for takeoff. Many airplanes have a heading bug these days, which is used to control the autopilot. But that bug can be used as a valuable reminder, even if you aren’t using automation. Especially at an airport with multiple runways, I always set the bug on the runway heading that I’ll be using. It’s a quick reminder during taxi, and a valuable last minute check before you take off. In larger airplanes, it could even prevent a fatal mistake, like the CRJ crash in Lexington, Kentucky, some years ago.

3. Don’t reconfigure on the runway. As you gain confidence in the airplane, it’s tempting to multi-task. Sometimes that’s OK, but resist the urge to do it after landing, while you’re still on the runway. Leave the flaps where they are, don’t touch the trim, and don’t worry about the lights. They can all wait, and if your attention is in the cockpit, you might miss a serious traffic conflict or even taxi the airplane into the grass. Keep the cockpit sterile until you’re over the hold-short line. Obviously an exception can be made for touch and goes, but I’d only do this with an instructor in the right seat (never solo).

4. Verify the flap handle in retractable gear airplanes. Somewhat related to the previous habit, in retractable airplanes it’s easy to mix up the flap and gear handles, particularly if you’re in a hurry. Sure, there are systems to prevent the retraction of the gear when you’re on the ground, but those can fail. Take two extra seconds when you grab the flap handle to retract them after landing, and say (out loud), “I have the flap handle.” It may seem silly at first, but it can prevent a very expensive mistake.

5. Use a quick flow check at key moments. Every pilot and every airplane will have a different flow check, but a good one includes essential items like: power setting, trim, flaps/gear, engine instruments, and altitude. This can take just a moment, but I like to do it shortly after takeoff, at the top of climb, before starting descent and just before landing. It’s not a replacement for a printed checklist, but a good backup to make sure the critical checklist steps have been completed.

6. Leave the landing light out until cleared for takeoff. At towered airports, you’ll sometimes be cleared to “line up and wait,” meaning you’ll take the runway but hold your position until you get additional clearance from the tower. To avoid confusion, I always leave the landing light off until I have received clearance to take off. That gives me a quick check if I’m ever uncertain of my status. And yes, you should always turn on the landing light for takeoff, even during the daytime. It’s helpful for collision avoidance.

7. Call out “1000 to go” in climbs and descents. The pros always say this, and most newer autopilots also do it too. When you’re within 1000 feet of your level-off altitude, say “1000 to go” and maybe even hold up one finger. It’s a good way to prevent an altitude bust (a big deal in the world of IFR flying), but it’s also a helpful reminder that you should be focusing on flying the airplane, not talking to passengers or programming the avionics.

All of these are easy and quick, so they shouldn’t burden your typical flight. In fact, after a while, you probably won’t even notice you’re doing them. In my 3000+ hours of flying, all seven have saved me from a mistake. Sure, not all would have been fatal or even serious, but striving for that mistake-free flight is every pilot’s goal. I’ll take all the help I can get.

Any little habits you’d add to my list? Add a comment below.