Figure 1-13. Three major areas contributing to runway incursions are communications with air traffic control (ATC), airport knowledge,  and flight deck procedures. The key to stall awareness is the pilot’s ability to visualize  the wing’s AOA in any particular circumstance, and thereby  be able to estimate his or her margin of safety above stall.  This is a learned skill that must be acquired early in flight  training and carried through the pilot’s entire flying career.  The pilot must understand and appreciate factors such as  airspeed, pitch attitude, load factor, relative wind, power  setting, and aircraft configuration in order to develop a  reasonably accurate mental picture of the wing’s AOA at any  particular time. It is essential to safety of flight that pilots  take into consideration this visualization of the wing’s AOA  prior to entering any flight maneuver. Chapter 3, Basic Flight  Maneuvers, discusses stalls in greater detail.  Checklists have been the foundation of pilot standardization  and flight deck safety for years.  [Figure 1-17]  The checklist  is a memory aid and helps to ensure that critical items  necessary for the safe operation of aircraft are not overlooked  or forgotten. Checklists need not be “do lists.” In other words,  the proper actions can be accomplished, and then the checklist  used to quickly ensure all necessary tasks or actions have been  completed. Emphasis on the “check” in checklist. However,  1-13 Use of Checklists Figure 1-14. Sedona Airport is one of the many airports that operate  without a control tower.