Part 2: Info about my lists
of text for the checklist: This post covers the format used to create my RV-12 checklists and the order in
which they are assembled in the “master” checklist file. As mentioned in Part 1, the displayed
checklists are either 40% or 50% of the SkyView’s total screen width. I chose
to create the checklists for the smaller 40% screen display which will allow viewing
of the Primary Flight Display and Engine Monitoring System while the checklists
are displayed. The smaller 40% limits each line of text in every checklist to
31 characters … as such, this requires some forethought, creative wording and
positioning. Creating meaningful checklist using only 31 characters per line is
a challenge to be sure. I feel the checklists and info in Part 3-7 are comprehensive
and usable … and, if after using the checklists for a period of time adjustments
are deemed necessary, changes can be made at any time by editing the “master” checklist
file and reinstalling the revised checklist file into the SkyView. Even though the
lists posted in Parts 3-7 are created for the RV-12 specifically, it should be
quite easy to adapt them to most any experimental aircraft by changing the
speeds and specs for the new aircraft and not installing the Rotax engine
related lists.
Fellow RV-12 owners take note: There are entries in my checklists
referring to a parking brake and a fuel pump switch. If you don’t have these
items, simply copy my text files to a simple text editor and delete the offending lines
then copy the remaining lines to the Dynon check list creation tool or the
checklist file you are building manually. I did not include a pre-flight walk
around checklist because it would just be so very long requiring multiple lists
and … frankly, how can you see the list on the Skyview if you are busy outside
checking out the aircraft? Thus, I’ve decided to just use laminated checklist
pages from the POH for my preflight walk around and just fill the SkyView with
checklists, emergency procedures, spec data and miscellaneous info that can be
used from the pilot seat.
The Dynon checklist creation tool can create up to 24 individual checklists
or informational lists… each of which can contain up to 50 lines of text. Each checklist and informational list was
created keeping the limitations of Dynon’s display and the checklist creation
tool in mind. As such, each line of text was limited to a maximum of 31 characters
for the desired screen size of 40% and all the checklists or informational
lists do not exceed 50 lines. I’ll cover the use of Dynon’s checklist creation tool in Part 8.
Below is a “master” list that I used to keep track of the order the lists
are entered into the checklist creation tool. The master list IS NOT entered
into the checklist creation tool, its only use is to keep track of the names
and order in which I wanted the checklists to be installed and listed … fell the reader may benefit from it as well.
Note: The master list shows line 22 as blank. I decided to keep one storage
location available for future use. The Dynon checklist creator will not build a
checklist if there is not text entered for that location, so no worries, you
won’t see a “Blank” in you checklist listed … the creation tool just passes
over cells not populated with text.
List 0. BEFORE START CHECKLIST
List 1. ENGINE START CHECKLIST
List 2. AFTER START/TAXI CHECKLIST
List 3. RUN-UP CHECKLIST
List 4. TAKE-OFF CHECKLIST
List 5. CLIMB & CRUISE CHECKLIST
List 6. DECENT & APPROACH CHECKLIST
List 7. LANDING CHECKLIST
List 8. SHUTDOWN CHECKLIST
List 9. EMERGENCY: ENGINE FAIL TAKEOFF
List 10. EMERGENCY ENGINE INAIR RESTART
List 11. EMERGENCY: ENGINE FIRE GROUND
List 12. EMERGENCY: ENGINE FIRE IN AIR
List 13. EMERGENCY: ELECTRICAL FIRE
List 14. EMERGENCY: FORCED LANDING
List 15. RV-12 PERFORMANCE & SPECS
List 16. RV-12 POH V-SPEEDS
List 17. RV-12 ROTAX 912ULS LIMITATIONS
List 18. MISC: LIGHT SIGNALS
List 19. MISC: PHONETIC ALPHABET
List 20. MISC: SKYVIEW BUTTONS
List 21. MISC: TRANSPONDER CODES
List 22. [left blank for future use]
List 23. MISC: CHECKLIST INFO
The viewer should note the lists of text posted in Parts 3-7 will have a
dashed line above and below each text list … this is to aid the viewer with a
visual queue denoting the beginning and end of each text list. Also of note, the
first line in each text list matches one of the entries in the above “master” list.
That first line is the title of the checklist and will be copied and pasted
into the appropriate line under Checklist Titles in Dynon's checklist creator tool and
only the remaining lines of text will be copied and pasted into the spreadsheet cell
associated with that title. Here again that process will be covered in step by step detail
in Part 8.
