Ground procedures: preflight to runup

1. Step 1 of 3

   The walkaround and the passenger

   Preflight inspection

   A systematic walk of the aircraft against the flight manual's checklist, every flight: rotor head and blades, control connections, fuel quantity and quality, tires, and everything the manual names. The discipline is the checklist itself: found items are either fixed or the aircraft stays put. You are looking for the defect that wants to be found on the ground.

   Passenger briefing

   Before start, your one passenger gets a real briefing: seat belt on and how it releases, hands and feet clear of controls, where the propeller and rotor are and that they are never approached while turning, headset use, and what happens in an emergency. The examiner listens for exactly this on the checkride.

2. Step 2 of 3

   Starting and taxiing

   Engine start

   • Area clear front and back, brakes held, controls positioned per the manual, and a clear call of “clear prop” before the starter turns.
   • The propeller arc is a no-go zone for everyone, always, running or not.

   Taxiing a gyroplane

   • Brake check the moment the aircraft first moves.
   • Rotor management is the gyroplane-specific skill: an unspun rotor in wind wants to flap and sail. Keep it secured or controlled per your type's procedure, taxi slowly, and position the stick for the wind as your manual directs.
   • Comply with every marking and sign (previous lesson), watch wingtip-less but rotor-wide clearances, and position your runup so nobody eats your propwash.

3. Step 3 of 3

   The before-takeoff check

   At the hold-short, the manual's before-takeoff checklist runs complete, every time: engine instruments in the green, controls free and correct, doors and belts, transponder and radio set, and the rotor spun up per procedure: prerotation to the manual's RPM, and takeoff not attempted below it.

   Part of this check is a spoken plan: what airspeed rotation happens at, what the climb-out looks like, and what you will do if the engine falters on the roll or just after liftoff. Deciding that at the hold-short is the entire difference between a reaction and a plan. Blade flap on the roll from taking off below flying RPM is the type-specific hazard your instructor will drill: the numbers live in your flight manual.

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FAA Rotorcraft Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-21 (public domain). Checklists, prerotation RPM and rotor-securing procedure are your flight manual's.