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Is Your Checklist Actually Protecting Your Engine?

Following your aircraft checklist isn't optional — and skipping a single step like mixture full rich on takeoff can send cylinder head temperatures past 400° before you've leveled off. John and Jeff walk through the checklist habits that actually protect your piston engine.

In this episode, John Buckles and Jeff Schanbel talk through the operating checklist the way two mechanics see it from the shop floor — not as paperwork, but as the difference between a healthy engine and a damaged one. They cover why leaning the mixture during taxi keeps spark plugs from carbon fouling, why pushing the mixture full rich before takeoff is the step pilots forget most often, and what high CHT on climb is really telling you. They also get into engine startup discipline, why running up to high RPM right after start beats up the engine, and why turbocharged airplanes need cooldown time at idle before shutdown — not a quick mag check and mixture cut. The bigger theme: most of the engine problems they see trace back to pilots being in a hurry. Move controls slowly, monitor the engine the same way you monitor your flight instruments, and if temperatures or pressures start climbing on takeoff, level off and troubleshoot before pressing on to altitude. You don't have to declare an emergency to tell ATC you need to stay low and sort something out.

In this episode, we cover:

- Why mixture full rich is the checklist item pilots most often miss before takeoff

- How a missed mixture step can push CHT over 400° in a fast climb

- Why leaning during taxi reduces spark plug fouling and carbon buildup

- What to do when CHT or oil pressure starts climbing during initial climb

- How to talk to ATC about leveling off without declaring an emergency

- Why high-RPM operation right after startup damages the engine

- Why turbocharged engines need idle time before shutdown

- The checklist habits that prevent gear-up landings and engine damage alike

This one is for owners and pilots who want their engine to make TBO — and who know that the checklist hanging in the cockpit is the cheapest maintenance tool they own.

TIMECODES

00:00 The checklist step pilots skip most often

00:32 What to review before you start the engine

01:16 Why mixture full rich before takeoff matters

01:52 How fast CHT climbs past 400° when you forget

02:14 Don't assume you know the checklist — read it every time

02:40 Why rushing the shutdown damages your engine

03:35 Gear-up landings, GUMPS, and why checklists exist

03:53 Move engine controls slowly, every time

04:14 Turbocharger cooldown before shutdown

04:49 If temps rise on climb, level off and assess

05:20 Monitor the engine like you monitor your instruments

06:03 Telling ATC you need to level off without declaring an emergency

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