Barry Munsterteiger began flight training in 2021 in a Cessna 172M that included a CheckMate checklist.
“One day during my training I arrived to fly and the checklist that I had normally been using was missing from the airplane,” Barry said. “I chose not to fly that day as I felt it was a critical item at my stage of training. That evening I bought my own CheckMate Cessna 172M checklist via their Amazon storefront.”
Soon enough Barry bought a Cessna 182P and a CheckMate checklist for that aircraft. That would be the plane he earned his private pilot certificate in 2023.
Between April and July 2023 Barry upgraded the 182’s panel from steam gauges to a glass panel. He quickly realized his checklist also needed an upgrade.
Despite 30 years in tech — specifically user experience design — Barry found he didn’t like digital checklists. They “created more workload,” he said.
“I was directly inspired by the CheckMate format and used that as the inspiration for my layout and organization,” continued Barry. “Items that were not relevant to my 182 were removed, new items were added accordingly, and a look and feel was created that matched the modernization of the systems.”
Using the six-column layout he was familiar with, Barry customized the content to work with his style of flying and specific aircraft and updated the visuals to a more modern aesthetic.
“After completing the design and printing a few prototypes I quickly realized the downfall of home lamination machines,” he said. “Within three uses the checklist started to delaminate and come apart.”
So Barry reached out to CheckMate Aviation to see about using its process and materials to print his checklist. CheckMate’s co-owner, Rich Lang, asked Barry to email a PDF of the checklist.
Rich replied, “I am impressed by your expertise and desire for perfection. This brings me to a most unusual question: Would you be interested in CheckMate as a company? After 32 years of a gifted and rewarding vocation, my partner Carol and I, as of yesterday, have decided to retire by the end of the year!”
As you might imagine, Rich’s reply caught Barry by surprise. But after discussing the idea with his wife, Sandra, they decided to book a flight to Atlanta to check out CheckMate Aviation.
Serendipitously, Barry and Sandra had been looking for a way to invest in aviation.
Barry spent three days with Rich, reviewing software, systems, tools, taxes, and financial statements. What he saw, he liked. He found opportunities to modernize software and processes to make the business operate more efficiently while maintaining high quality.
To make it actually happen, Barry’s brother Cory came on as a part owner. He handles the finances and accounting side of things. Barry focuses on forecasting, day-to-day operations and, of course, product design. And Sandra assists Barry with marketing and non-flying partner product development.
The CheckMate Aviation website relaunched on Feb. 14, 2025. The new website saves Barry three to four hours each day because it is fully integrated across all systems. The only manual tasks left are pulling a checklist from inventory, packing it, labeling it, and mailing it.
During Barry’s instrument training, which he completed in June 2024, he iterated the checklists to experiment with optimum layout and flow. He ultimately settled on a design that focuses on the specific phase of flight.
What’s Next
Barry is collaborating with flight schools and flying clubs to customize checklists for their fleets. For example: If one of the aircraft doesn’t have an autopilot, that section of the checklist omits autopilot information for that specific aircraft.
But instead of having one checklist, owned by the school or flying club, each pilot will be responsible for obtaining a copy of their own checklist. The one in the aircraft will function as a backup, Barry explained.
Beyond the schools and flying clubs, Barry is slowly updating the design language for the 350 different aircraft in the checklist inventory. He’s updated 60 so far and is focused on the aircraft that produce the most orders.
“With the design updates it was important to preserve a sense of familiarity with the legacy products as there is 30-plus years of history that generations of pilots are accustomed to in their flying,” he said. “A complete departure or a ground up redesign was not an option.”
Single-pilot human factors — such as age-related vision limitations (two sizes available), dexterity (single-card format), and logically placed information — make these checklists a natural companion to factory POHs, according to Barry.
Updates have been vetted by a wide variety of pilots, including private and professional pilots, students, CFIs, and DPEs, he noted.
In an increasingly digital world, it is nice to see the lowly non-digital checklist continue to play such an important role in aviation.
For more information: CheckMateAviation.com
As an ‘industry’ suggestion, I would like to see better separation between “Procedures” (SOPs) and true “Checklists”. A Procedure lays out the many steps involved to accomplish a particular task. A Checklist is then used to verify that the most critical steps in the procedure were (and stayed) done.
A long-standing advantage of this approach is that, if an important item in the procedure is not correctly completed, the checklist provides a ‘second chance’ to catch and correct the matter.
Just another reason why I love my Dynon……with programmable checks list which I can bring up on the big screen at the push of one button. No more looking and fumbling around for the check list….I can easily change the list….adding, removing and changing the order.
Note……The Dynon also has a Maintenance list……an Emergency list and a Weight & Balance calculator.