A few years ago I fulfilled one of the items on my “bucket list” by becoming a FAA certified private pilot.

During my flight training there was one mental checklist that my flight instructor drilled into my brain; Aviate, Navigate and Communicate.

This weekend this checklist literally saved my life!

On Sunday I was flying back home from Reno from a weekend business trip and about 75 miles southwest of Reno at 9500 feet, my engine started to vibrate and as I glanced over at my gauges found that I was losing oil pressure and engine compression.

Aviate: Fly the plane

It was evident that I was about to lose my engine, so my Cessna 182 was soon to become a glider, so I had to quickly make this transition.

Navigate: Know where you are going

I had just flown over a small town in Northwestern Nevada called Hawthorne. I knew they had a small airport and there were other roads in the area in case I couldn’t make it.

Communicate: This means networking

I had flight following with Sacramento Center, I transmitted on the radio that I had an emergency that my engine was going out. The flight service operator told me that there was a small airport directly behind me.

I banked the plane to my left and there 180 degrees was the Hawthorne Airport (HTH)

I had to lose 3000 feet in attitude, so lined up for a downwind entry into runway 10.

At this point I was out of radio contact with Sacramento Center so a US West pilot began relaying messages to me from the flight services and I was instructed to switch frequencies to the local airport frequency.

But I didn’t, the most important item on my checklist was to aviate, to fly the plane. I knew that if I took my eyes off the airport and my surroundings even for a second, that I could lose control of the plane and crash.

I had to remain focused and stick to my checklist.

As I cleared the ten foot fence of the airport on my final approach I knew that I would safely touchdown.

Checklists in SEO and Internet Marketing are also extremely important, do you follow one?

Here is a simple checklist you can use if you’re developing a new website:

1.    What is the purpose of your website?
2.    Who are you speaking to, who is your perfect customer? Are they male/female, students, a specific community?
3.    Will your content resonate with your customer; are you fulfilling their fantasy result?
4.    What is the tone of your website: serious, fun, professional?
5.    Who will develop the content, how often will it be updated?
6.    Will all sections of the site be available to all your visitors?
7.    What functions are needed: shopping cart, forum, applications, blog?

This simple checklist will help you develop your site structure and is extremely important to plan out in advance so you don’t crash and burn on your take off’s or landings with your sites.

BTW, what caused my engine failure was one stuck valve which broke the push rod assembly on cylinder three.

This coming week I have to make plans on returning to Hawthorn airport with a mechanic and fix the engine.

But I’m here today because of the grace of God and because I had my checklist down pat!