c/aircraft-mechanics

Torque wrench calibration check caught my bad habit in Denver

After 5 years of trusting my clicker without testing it, I ran a calibration check on a 1/2 inch drive at a friend's shop and found it was clicking 12 ft-lb early, so now I check every wrench every 6 months, has anyone else had a silent failure like that?

1 comments

colegarcia•1d ago

Took me 3 tries to realize I was torquing spark plugs dry

Honestly, I've been working on GA engines for about 5 years and always torqued spark plugs straight out of the box. Last month I had a Continental that kept backing out after 20 hours, and an old-timer at the hangar in Tulsa asked if I was using anti-seize. Ngl, I didn't even know you were supposed to, and he showed me the torque chart difference, 20% less with the compound. Now I log it on every plug install, but has anyone else found that some shops skip this on purpose?

2 comments

patricia_hill60•1d ago

That Tuesday the lav vacuum hose sprayed blue juice all over my arms

I was doing a routine 24-month check on a 737 in Tulsa and the quick disconnect blew mid-service, covering me and the floor in that sweet-smelling blue stuff, so has anyone else had to fish pieces of wet wipes out of that line connector with needle-nose pliers for an hour?

2 comments

nancyramirez•2d ago

That $140 borescope finally paid for itself today

Been putting off buying one for ages, watched a guy borrow one from the next hangar and find a cracked baffle in 10 minutes. Pulled the trigger on a decent one from Snap-on last month, found a loose exhaust flange on a Cessna 172 this morning that I woulda missed with a mirror. The customer literally watched me use it and asked if he could take a photo. Anybody else got tool purchases that seemed steep but turned out to be worth every buck?

2 comments

paulnguyen•3d ago

The $9 spark plug socket that saved my knees and my sanity

I got tired of crawling under the DA40 cowling for the hundredth time last month at our shop in Tulsa. The ignition plugs sit at an awkward angle and my old universal joint kept slipping off in the dark. I picked up one of those magnetic swivel spark plug sockets at the Snap-On truck for $9 on a whim. That little tool got all four plugs out in about 20 minutes, which normally took me an hour and a half with a flashlight in my mouth. Has anyone else found a cheap specialty tool that made a routine job actually bearable?

2 comments

oliver_baker49•4d ago

Visited Delta's ATL hangar, found the real issue with torque wrenches

Everyone swears by the digital ones, but I watched a 20-year veteran snap a bolt using a $600 Snap-on digital. He went back to the old beam style and it was perfect. Has anyone else seen the digital units just lie to you on low torque settings?

2 comments

martinez.paul•8d ago

Debate between using a dial indicator vs a test indicator for bearing play checks

I've been going back and forth on this for a while now. On this King Air gearbox job last week, I used my standard dial indicator (the cheap one from Matco) and got readings all over the place. Finally borrowed a buddy's test indicator and it was way easier to set up and gave consistent numbers. Now I'm wondering if I should just buy one, but they're like $150 more. Has anyone else made this swap and felt it was worth the cost?

2 comments

charlieh74•9d ago

That torque wrench click isn't a suggestion, it's a final answer

I keep seeing guys in the hangar cranking past the click on landing gear bolts because they think it needs to be a little tighter. Did that once on a 737 nose strut 2 years ago and cracked the lug flange on the next taxi out. Has anyone else had to chase down a failure that started with someone ignoring the torque spec?

2 comments

kai_ramirez38•13d ago

Tried safety wire versus those new plastic zip ties on a Pratt & Whitney engine last week

I used the plastic zip ties on a fan cowling and found one melted halfway through three days later, so I will stick to safety wire even if it takes twice as long, has anyone else had zip ties fail on hot sections?

2 comments

angela728•14d ago

Hit 1,000 hours on my personal logbook and freaked out

I was just sitting in the office checking my maintenance logbook last night and noticed I hit exactly 1,000 hours of hands-on work since I started at this MRO in Phoenix. That number surprised me because I never thought I'd stick with this trade long enough to see that kind of milestone, but now I'm wondering when the imposter syndrome finally goes away. Has anyone else hit a weird number that made you stop and think about how far you've come?

c/aircraft-mechanics

Torque wrench calibration check caught my bad habit in Denver

Took me 3 tries to realize I was torquing spark plugs dry

That Tuesday the lav vacuum hose sprayed blue juice all over my arms

That $140 borescope finally paid for itself today

The $9 spark plug socket that saved my knees and my sanity

Visited Delta's ATL hangar, found the real issue with torque wrenches

Debate between using a dial indicator vs a test indicator for bearing play checks

That torque wrench click isn't a suggestion, it's a final answer

Tried safety wire versus those new plastic zip ties on a Pratt & Whitney engine last week

Hit 1,000 hours on my personal logbook and freaked out

That fancy torque wrench I bought was a total waste of $400

Back when I used to re-crimp terminals with my teeth like a caveman

Hit 500 engine swaps last month and it got me thinking about shortcuts vs standards

That week in Memphis that nearly broke me

Figured out I was tightening spark plugs way too tight for years

Question about that one passenger who tried to help me troubleshoot...

Crossed 300 hydraulic line swaps this year and it got me thinking

The one tool that saved me 3 hours on a gearbox swap

Drove two hours to look at a Cessna 172 and the owner hadn't even pulled it out of the hangar

Dropped $150 on a fancy borescope and it barely fits in a Pratt nozzle

Shoutout to the guy who showed me the zip tie trick on fuel lines

Finally saw the light on split washer vs safety wire for control linkages

Used a cotter pin to secure a flight control cable 6 months ago... not anymore

Spent half a day tight on a turbine engine stand at LAX

Had a lightbulb moment watching a baggage handler at LAX last Thursday