the_sage•1mo agoProlific Poster

Walked through the hangar at a small airport in Boise and saw something that made me shake my head

I was out there last week helping a buddy with a pre-buy on a Cessna 182. We're walking past this open maintenance bay, and I see a guy using a regular old hardware store crescent wrench on a fuel line fitting. Not a proper line wrench, just a cheap adjustable one. The fitting was already starting to round off, you could see the shiny spots. I stopped and asked him about it, and he said his shop was 'too cheap to buy the right tools' and that 'it gets the job done.' Gets the job done? Maybe until it strips and you've got a fuel leak at 5,000 feet. It's not just being cheap, it's being lazy and dangerous. I told my buddy we were walking away from that plane, no question. How many other planes are flying out of that field with half-done work like that? What's the dumbest tool substitution you've ever seen someone try to get away with?

3 comments

3 Comments

riley5951mo ago

Saw a guy once trying to seat a bearing with a hammer and a block of wood. He was just whacking away, said the proper press was 'over in the other shop.' That bearing was probably dust after two hits. It's the same mindset, using what's close by instead of what's right. That kind of corner cutting always catches up, just a matter of when.

river_wright1mo ago

Using what's close by instead of what's right" is exactly how I used to think. Seeing a bearing turn to dust would change anyone's mind.

lucas1595d ago

Walking past a fueling dock outside Reno a few years back, I saw a guy using a pair of vice grips to tighten a spark plug wire connection. I used to be one of those people who thought "if it fits, it works" but watching that wire get all chewed up and the boot start to crack made me realize I was wrong. @riley595 is right, the mindset is the same everywhere. That kind of shortcut might save you five minutes on the ground but it can cost you everything in the air. It just takes one bad day to turn a "close enough" part into a real problem.