Veteran Tool Spot Light-Ford Wrench (by request)

The lowly Ford Wrench. What can I say? It's heavy, awkward, loud, and often rusty. It sits on the bottom of your Line Bag or Toolbox waiting for that one time that it is needed a year. It's not the sexiest looking tool around and won't win any beauty contests. But that one time, oh that one time, when nothing else will work that Ford Wrench will be your savior. Let's start with a little background.
The Ford Wrench as we know it was the original Monkey Wrench. Where the term Monkey Wrench came from I do not know but the wrench is a Ford Motor Company original. This wrench was supplied in the 1929(?) Ford Model A tool kit. Of course people soon figured out that it could be used for any number of jobs on the car or anywhere for that matter. Fast forward 80 years and the wrench we all know is still known as a Ford Wrench.
As far as Line Maintenance the Ford Wrench is a must have. I have seen them long, short, even tiny but they all had one thing in common: they are built to last. My Ford Wrench is a little shy of 10" long with a maximum jaw opening of 2 1/2". My wrench looks like its about 50 years old and I have no idea how old it is. I think I got it from a guy at Delta Airlines but I can't remember. My wrench has no company insignia on it, in fact it has no markings at all on it except a tiny M in a circle. I have no idea who makes it or where it came from. Here is what I do know:
My Ford Wrench has helped me out of quite a few tight spots. When you need a large wrench 1 plus inch, there are times when a typical open end wrench won't fit. The nut or more typically hydraulic, fuel, oil, pneumatic, fitting is in a spot that the open end or even angle wrench can not get a good bite on it. We out on the Line call this the "angle of the dangle". There are just some times when the angle of the dangle is such that the Ford Wrench seems to be the only tool that will work. The Ford Wrench has no fancy angles associated with it, 90 degrees and that's it.
When you first start out you may not have all the wrenches that you may need. Now a days who has the money to go out and buy every open end wrench and angle wrench and stubby wrench on the market. A Ford Wrench will work on everything from 0"-2 1/2" (in my case) and I have seen some that open way wider than that.
Remember the MagLite post? It seems that we all need to beat something at some time and no one carries a hammer. Line guys do not carry hammers in their bags. They may have one in their toolbox in the shop or carry one one their golf carts like I do but they do not carry hammers in their Line bags. As I mentioned earlier these Ford Wrenches are heavy metal and often stand in for that missing hammer. I would bet that guys use them more for hitting tools than as a wrench.
Working the Line is all about thinking on your feet. The truly good Line Mechanics do not run back and forth from the airplane to their toolbox in the shop. They use what they have and some common sense to fix the problem. The Ford Wrench is one of those tools that allow you to do just that. Sure it's not the first tool people think of as a must have and often times it won't cross our minds at all until that one moment when you look at a job and the thought goes through your mind, "I bet I can get my Ford Wrench on that".

Veteran Tool Spotlight! Speed Handle

The other day at work we got to talking about tools and speed handles came up. It's funny how many guys do not carry a speed handle with them. When you are away from the shop, using a cordless drill, and the battery dies that speed handle comes in handy. If you do not have one you will have to get back on your golf cart, tug, or truck and drive all the way back to the shop to pick up a battery for your drill. Me, I prefer to carry a speed handle that way I can take out those few screws (because as you know the drill always dies when you only have one or two screws to go).

The other thing that a speed handle is very good for is removing stripped screws. The handle gives you the ability to apply pressure while maintaining control over how much torque you put on the head of the screw. In short you have much more control over a speed handle than you do over a drill motor. Often times when working with someone who only uses drills I will be turning my screws with my speed handle and will hear that tell tale sound of a apex bit in a drill tearing up a screw head.

Before you run out and purchase a speed handle at Sears or Loews you need to know some ugly truths about the current generation of speed handles. The current speed handles basically suck. The newer speed handles have straight handles which are impossible to "lean" on in order to apply a good amount of pressure onto a screw. All the old speed handles have round handles that you can place your shoulder against and really lean into the work at hand. Why they changed the handles I'm not sure, but it seems that all the manufacturers have gone with the straight handles. One guy told me that people were getting injured leaning on the tools so the companies changed the way they make them to stop this practice. If that is the case it just goes to show you that even something that is designed perfectly can be corrupted by people complaining about getting hurt when it was likely something they did incorrectly to get themselves hurt. So to get your hands on an older speed handle you will have to cruise the swap meets or used tool stores.

Out on the line a 1/4" speed handle is the way to go. Most of the guys carry a full 1/4" socket set so it will allow you to work with your sockets. A bit holder is needed to use your apex bits but those are usually supplied by the company. I use a 3/8" speed handle. I like the extra size and it allows me to put even more pressure on screws, etc. When I first started at SWA we had mostly 300 series aircraft and a 3/8" speed handle allows you to put the Thrust Reverser lock out pins in quickly. As any of you who have locked out a 300 Thrust Reverser out know it takes some time and the speed handle makes it go a little quicker and allows you to put a lean on those pins when they don't quite line up. My 3/8" speed handle also fits into the manual start hole in the engine cowl and allows me to open the start valve manually. I know the 700 series has TR lock out pins that are made for 1/4" ratchets but they also line up a lot better than the old 300 ones do.

I have an old Craftsman model that I was lucky enough to find at a Flea Market. If I remember correctly it cost me $3.00! Since I bought it about 15 years ago I have removed countless screws, hundreds of panels, and saved numerous screw heads and therefore a bunch of time by going the "slow" route and using my speed handle instead of a drill. Remember this is a game of time, if I can get screws out with out having to drill and east out them I save myself time and frustration. I'm not saying to fore sake your drill but first break out your speed handle and give each screw a turn or two to break them loose before you go back and remove them the rest of the way with your drill. Another way you can practice Zen Maintenance! Don't rush! Patience!

Show Me The Money

For those of you who are thinking about getting into this business, wondering about if there is any money to be made. The answer is mostly no. Companies are cutting back and farming out the labor to contract companies such as Tramco in Seattle. Pay is down and benefits are being whittled away. There is, however, one way to make some money working on airplanes at an airline. In order to make decent money you have to be willing to work weekends and holidays.

Working the weekends is like a fact of life in the airline industry. Until your seniority is built up, which is going to take a while, you will most likely have weekdays off. Even those guys who have weekends off will have to work some weekends if they really want to be in a money making position. It always seems like things are breaking on the weekends, we on the line attribute this to low seniority flight crews. The work is lousy and often times sucks real bad but it is what it is-an opportunity to make some cash.

Another idiosyncrasy about the airline biz is working on holidays. Most guys want off on holidays and have put vacation days in the book. While this may seem unfair it is also an opportunity for those of us who want to work a little extra to make some extra pay. Holidays like Christmas are a great for situations such as this. Mechanics call in sick and those on vacation leave a vacuum for those willing to work.

So if someone asks if there is any money in this industry let them know: Sure but you will have to be willing to work when most people don't want to.

Another Cool Tool

I was at work the other day (big surprise) and we got a call for a plane that was already fully loaded and ready to push. The forward cargo door had a small issue, when the rampers closed the door it could be pushed OPEN with just a good bump. Well of course it turned out that the door was not closing all the way and the door rollers were not turning when the handle was moved in the closed direction.

So another mechanic and I got inside to open the back of the door up. This guy is kind of our door specialist and knows how to rig and work on the doors, etc. Well he broke out his drill and started to take the panels off. Make a long story short after we were done and the plane was fixed (it made it's flight by the way) he showed me his set of DeWalt bits that he used to fix the plane. They are black almost like impact bits and are not really bits but sockets that can be chucked into the drill. He got them in a set from 1/4" up to 9/16" (I think). The unique thing about these sockets is that they had a collar on the shank that you could pull up and the thing turned into a wobble type set-up. Pushing the collar back down locked the bit and it could be used as normal. The walls of the bits were not too fat like those you see on some cheap-o tools and they had magnets in them to hold nuts or bolts, etc.

I will try to get a picture up of them soon and I will be looking out for them at the store.

Old Metal

Not really old but still a cool plane: the BAE-146. PSA used to fly these little guys into Concord Airport. Thanks again Picard.

It seems like when you search for classic jet liners you always end up with a picture of a Pan Am jet. I think Pan Am must be the most photographed airline. Thanks Picard for the pic!