well spoted forgot to list it
otherwise my lockwirepliers are no much good
As the title says. “To have” could mean to personally own or to have access to locally. And where do you buy them?
To start the list:
And which of these things would you take on a trip?
I posted one basic tool list here
However there is a good debate to be had about what tools one should carry all the time in the back of the plane. I used to carry almost nothing, until I got caught with a bunged-up spark plug at San Sebastian and tearing my hair out in very difficult circumstances (language, no tool shops anywhere near, no other facilities). Since then I carry a ~20kg toolbox.
Well, I have a 50 m^2 shop with a large compressor, a small compressor, several drills, rivet guns and rivet pullers, rivet squizers. Tons of rivets, sheet metal, reamers – all kinds of sheet metal tools, Tungsten (Wolfram) bucking bars. mm and inch wrenches, 3 torque wrenches. The only thing I don’t have is a band saw, I have no place to put it right now, but maybe some day… Got a complete CherryMax tool set from an old mechanic + tons of CherryMax rivets (worth several ks in US$ ) + tons of spark plugs for Lycoming engines. (if I some day get an angled valved Lycoming 360, I will never run out of plugs).
There is only one rule with tools. There is no such thing as enough
Zorg wrote:
To start the list:
Electric drill – Certainly NOT ! You’re NOT allowed to make holes in your plane !!!
Extensive bit set (which sizes)? (See above)
Wrench set (which sizes)? The ones that match what’s on your plane, ie. Metric or English and appropriately sized to your aircraft, ex. 747 or Cub ?
Screw driver with bendable front (for hardly accessible screws) What’s a “bendable front” ?
Strong and mini flash lights; head lamp : Those aren’t “tools” per se, but ALL pilots should have them !
Tyre pump – For your bicycle ?
Shop vac – Yes, absolutely, need to keep things tidy !
Compressed air – What for ?
Jack for tyre changes – Depending on aircraft type this will be somewhat expensive and will require adaptors.
Cleaning / wiping, and microfiber cloth – (See shop vac above)
Large floor pan for oil changes – (See cleaning /wiping above)
Funnel – This is once again pilot’s gear.
…
And which of these things would you take on a trip?
NOT the shop vac !
Zorg wrote:
And which of these things would you take on a trip?
Depends on the trip. Many Lakers take almost a spare aircraft when they go flying in the backcountry. In central Europe you’re fine with a screwdriver and the most important wrenches to open up the cowling or remove the wheel pants. On most airports in central Europe you’ll find someone with tools though.
LeSving wrote:
There is only one rule with tools. There is no such thing as enough
I guess this is true, and old tools can be used for special tools, don’t damage good tools for this.
Zorg wrote:
Strong and mini flash lights;
I think strong isn’t needed perse, with all these new lights a tend to use the more dimmed mode, often high brightness is so bright, you don’t see anything anymore due to reflections. So be sure to have on which can be dimmed.
Michael wrote:
Electric drill – Certainly NOT ! You’re NOT allowed to make holes in your plane !!!
Agreed, don’t use it as electric screw driver either. It’s very easy to damage screws. I prefer to use a screw driver, or when I use an battery powered screwdriver I use it at the lowest RPM. You will damage heads and panels easily. Stainless screws can easily seiz up. Take your time, or allow the shop to use sufficient time for panel opening and closing. It is often regarded as apprentience job, which IMHO it shouldn’t be.
Drilling out all screws which are to damaged to get out on another way, because you got “help” is very frustrating and much more expensive.
Jesse wrote:
Drilling out all screws which are to damaged to get out on another way, because you got “help” is very frustrating and much more expensive.
Indeed !
And now, here’s a Pro’s Tip for recalcitrant screws : Put a dab of valve grinders paste on the tip of the screwdriver – this will keep it from slipping !
My Cessna lives in a maintenance hangar: they could dismantle it, make it new and put it together in a week
For minor trips I carry a screw set, battery cables and duct tape.
AfricanEagle wrote:
… and duct tape.
Back when I was co-owner of a Seminole I always carried a little tube of superglue and a roll of high speed tape, each of which enabled us to fly home in the evening at least once.