Has it been a minute since your tread met the runway? After getting current for night flight, what else might you want to think about doing before taking passengers up?
Ensuring the flight goes well means looking into a few matters that are easy to take for granted. Ignoring these areas can put a few hiccups into things before lifting off.
The thorough pilot that you are, here are a few suggestions to make the day (or night) flow smoothly and in your passengers' favor.
Check all the seatbelts. Ensure that all of them lock and release because you don't want to assume (especially with the back seat) that the set-up is always in proper working order.
For inertial reel seatbelts, do you know where to find the release bar under the plastic cap cover to unstick a pesky belt? It's about two inches long, thin, and on the inner edge of the belt mechanism.
Check all headset jacks and volumes. Take a few minutes to verify that talk and receive comes through loud and clear. Likewise, do so with each headset you'll be using.
Review the audio panel. Do you know how to adjust Pilot, Crew, and Passenger volumes individually? Review the settings and ensure that the toggle switch is placed in the ALL (or similar) position.
Have sick sacks at the ready. Not a pleasant thought, but certainly one that you can mitigate by thinking ahead. Small plastic trash bags will do fine in place of the real deal, and it doesn't hurt to put a few in the back seat pockets if you have them. If not, keep them tucked away by your side for easy and quick access.
These simple preparations will help your holiday travel go quite smoothly. Your passengers may never know just how thorough a pilot you are, but they'll surely notice and appreciate some of the extra effort on their behalf.