Often times when I'm lugging my tool bag up the jet way stairs I start to think about what would be the least amount of tools I could carry on a daily basis would be. I also have always said that I could fix anything on this plane (737) with a hammer, a vise grip, and a screw driver.
If I really had to choose however I think I would choose the following:
Ratcheting screw driver and bits
Adjustable wrench
Vise grips
Mag Lite
I think that in a pinch I could do almost everything that I need to do on a daily basis with just those tools. Add a roll of Cargo Pit Tape and Safety Wire and you could get away with most of the daily jobs (reading lights, landing lights, coffee makers, etc.).
The problem we as Line Mechanics have is that most days are not normal. There is no telling when you will have to whip out that 1/2 inch open end wrench that you shaved down so that it is really thin and which you put a torch to and bent just so it would fit in the ridiculously small space it needed to. As a result we have a hodge podge of common tools and custom tools that we have available if we need them. Also as a result its hard to work out of someone elses tool bag or box. You know exactly where your specialty wrench is or which pair of Hogs (slip-joint pliers) to use as a hammer and when. You go beating up someone else's Hogs and they may not appreciate it.
I've seen lots of mechanics and they all have their own collection of tools and all seem to get the job done. It's funny because if you ask just about any other person what they need to do their job, and then ask another person in that same field the same question you will get the same answer. In aviation, as far as mechanics are concerned, it is a very personal choice. The bent up wrench, the high dollar ratcheting screw driver, the broken screw driver that is only good for taking little tiny screws off of PTT switches, they all have their place in our high tech industry.
A lot of the older guys are even reluctant to divulge their secret arsenal of tools to the younger guys. They also tend to carry less than the younger Mechanics. Experience is priceless. I know a guy that when asked how he fixed different things he would always tell me "brute force and ignorance". Needless to say he carried very few tools, but always got the job done!
You know, I go through the same process of elimination in my tool bag too. I tend to have my 3 or so sizes of wrenches for fixing seats or tightening up hydraulic lines, the standard 3/8 and 7/16 deep sockets to tighten pneumatic ducting clamps, my 10" Cresent that doubles as a hammer and the ever popular Snap-On ratcheting screwdriver.
ReplyDeleteBut in the end, say three months, I find I have to put a lot of tools back into my rollaway as they have migrated into my tool bag. What I can't find and I know should be there I chock up as lost and go to the used tool store and replace them. I'm too old to be buying new tools and too cheap.
you know you can replace the vise grip with saftey wire plies, and save some weight. on bigger airplanes it was a crow bar, not a screw driver. i do like the brute force and ignorance application though, always works in a pintch.
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