Paper vs Digital Aviation Checklists: What Actually Works in the Cockpit?

Hey, I am Otto – private pilot, long-time graphic designer, and the bald bloke behind EZ Copilot. I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about one deceptively simple thing: your aviation checklist. Not the theoretical one in the POH, but the one you actually reach for in the cockpit when you are busy, tired, or slightly behind the airplane. Today I want to walk through paper checklists, digital checklists, and the factory handbook so you can build a setup that matches the way you really fly, not the way a marketing brochure assumes you fly.

Why Your Aviation Checklist Matters More Than You Think

Pilots sometimes treat checklists like a box to tick for a checkride or a flight review, but in real life your aviation checklist has a bigger job. It is there to catch the little things that are easy to skip when the radio is busy, the passenger in the right seat is asking questions, and the crosswind is doing its best impression of a personality test. A good pilot checklist reduces your mental load instead of adding to it.

In my head, a strong aviation checklist has three non-negotiables. First, it actually matches the aircraft handbook for the specific airplane you are flying. Second, it lines up with the physical flow of your cockpit so your eyes and hands move in a natural order. Third, it stays readable and reliable under real conditions: bright sun, bumps, night flight, and the occasional coffee incident. If it fails any of those three, it is decoration, not a tool.

The Main Checklist Formats Pilots Use Today

Most general aviation pilots end up with some blend of three formats. The aircraft handbook booklet, a paper or laminated card, and an EFB or app-based checklist. Each one solves some problems and creates others. The trick is understanding what each format is good at so you can build a system that works for you instead of against you.

The POH and Factory Checklist

The POH is the legal and technical source for your airplane. When I design a new aircraft checklist, this is always step one. It has the procedures, limitations, and performance data you need to respect if you want to stay friends with your engine, your insurance company, and your examiner.

The downside is that the factory checklist and handbook were never really optimized for in-flight use. Fonts can be tiny, sections are scattered, and emergency procedures often live across several pages. In turbulence or under pressure, flipping through that booklet can feel like trying to read a novel while someone is shaking your chair. Great for study and reference, not always ideal for that “I need it now” moment on downwind.

Laminated and Card-Style Checklists

This is where a lot of pilots end up happiest once they try a well-designed version. A laminated aircraft checklist card lets you pull the items you actually need for each phase of flight into one clean, logical layout: preflight, before start, taxi, run-up, before takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, landing, and shutdown. Emergency and abnormal procedures live on the back so they are one flip away.

The big advantage is speed and clarity. You can scan a card-style aviation checklist at arm’s length while wearing sunglasses and still pick out section titles and items. There is no scrolling, zooming, or hunting for the right tab. The format is predictable, it lives in the cockpit full-time, and it still works if your tablet battery decides it has “had enough” for the day. That is exactly the gap I built EZ Copilot to fill. If you are curious what that looks like, you can browse the current lineup here: EZ Copilot aviation checklists.

EFB and App-Based Checklists

Electronic checklists inside an EFB are incredibly tempting. They sync across devices, can be backed up to the cloud, and sometimes include very slick features like interactive check-off, color changes, or audio prompts. If you are already running your whole flight from a tablet, keeping an electronic pilot checklist in the same place can feel very natural.

The tradeoffs usually show up in workload and reliability. Tapping through a long digital checklist pulls more of your attention inside the cockpit. Glare, rain on the screen, sweaty fingers, or system alerts can all interrupt the flow. And if your tablet overheats or reboots at a bad time, you will be very glad if there is a simple, non-electronic backup sitting on your kneeboard.

How to Judge Any Aviation Checklist (Paper or Digital)

Any time you pick up a new aircraft checklist — whether it is from EZ Copilot, a competitor, your school, or your own printer — you can run it through a quick test. I use a version of this test every time I build a card for a new make and model.

First is the source check. Is the checklist clearly based on the POH or AFM for your exact aircraft, or is it a generic “should work for most” template? Clean wording is fine, but the actual steps, limits, and flows should still respect the manufacturer’s procedures. If nobody can tell you where the data came from, that is a red flag.

Second is the readability test. Hold the checklist at arm’s length in bright light, like you would in the cockpit with sunglasses on. Ask yourself how quickly you can identify each phase of flight and the next item. If you are squinting, tilting, or searching for where a section begins, that layout is going to be even more annoying when the airplane is bouncing and ATC is talking fast.

Third is the stress test. Go straight to the ugly scenarios: engine failure after takeoff, electrical fire, loss of oil pressure, smoke in cabin. How many seconds does it take to land your eyes on the right section and find the first action? A strong pilot checklist makes those emergency sections almost stupidly easy to find. In that moment, clarity beats clever every single time.

Where Paper Aviation Checklists Still Beat Screens

For all my love of tech, I still think a physical checklist earns a permanent spot in most GA cockpits. A laminated aviation checklist behaves the same way every time you pick it up. It doesn’t care about battery percentage, operating-system updates, Bluetooth connections, or Wi-Fi. It just quietly does its job while you do yours.

There is a tactile rhythm to it too. Running a finger down the column, pointing to each line, then looking back outside matches the way many of us learned to fly. That habit keeps your attention where it belongs — mostly outside — while still honoring the discipline of a checklist. When I design EZ Copilot cards, I assume they will be abused: stuffed into flight bags, cooked in parked airplanes, dropped on the ramp, and occasionally baptized in spilled coffee. That is why they are printed on heavy-duty material in a 6" x 9" format that actually fits on your kneeboard and in most GA cabins.

When EFB Checklists Really Shine

Digital checklists are not the enemy. In some cases they are absolutely the right choice. If your airplane’s configuration changes often, or you fly complex profiles that demand frequent revisions, an EFB checklist can be perfect. You can edit it, duplicate versions, and share it with other pilots on your team without touching a printer.

They also shine for ground study. Many pilots like to sit at home with their tablet and step through flows in “sim mode,” especially for IFR procedures or new a