I generally just use the automated engineer for the after take off and landing checklists just to ensure I didn’t miss anything (I still set things up myself) and sometimes use the after landing checklist to configure lights and get the APU started while I’m taxiing rather than stopping the plane and doing it myself.

I’ll add that the engineer panel looks complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not too bad.  The same overall process you would have on a 737 to connect GPU, power up the APU, connect generators, get air moving through packs etc are all there, they just look a bit different and often have more steps.  It’s interesting once you understand it to see what you are doing that is automated in a 737, sometimes not even visible to the pilot.  

Edited January 20Jan 20 by regis9

2 hours ago, regis9 said:

I’ll add that the engineer panel looks complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not too bad.

Indeed. I've adapted a checklist from a nice video where the guys used a "spiral" check : once the APU is up, start from top-left, power galleys, go down to the electrical system then down to the fuel management, then right to hydraulics and again to warnings, up to air conditioning and up again to packs, then left to the middle column to oxygen and down to the last warning and engine gauges checks. Very visual and easy to follow. Then after starting engines it is a matter of closing the electrical buses, checking the lights are all off and the fuel lines/packs tripoff are set for takeoff, and then you can concentrate on flying the beast (I can heartily recommend doing an overweight take-off once in a while).

Very nice plane.

4 hours ago, Flying Goat said:

I can heartily recommend doing an overweight take-off once in a while).

Preferably in an Aerosucre livery!

4 hours ago, regis9 said:

Preferably in an Aerosucre livery!

Of course !

I had one very "Aerosucre" moment once, taking off at MRTW but from some high altitude airport. After I somehow managed to lift-off and was having trouble maintaining a positive climb without shedding the little speed I had, one of the wheels of the main landing gear softly bumped on the roof of an unfortunate house located a few hundred meters down from the runway. Not enough to damage or slow down the plane but well enough to have some very annoyed neighbors, and probably some investigation :)