Aircraftmechanicxav
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2021
- Messages
- 25
So i wanted to show off my set up. First thing you gotta know about aircraft maintenance is that we dont have any metric. Even if its a plane made in france, operated by a french crew and with french registration, all the bolts are in sae so no need to have two set of everything.
Second of all, tool control is everything. If a car mechanic loose is wrench in the engine bay of a car, most extreme case it damage the engine but mostly he loose a wrench. If an aircraft mechanic loose his wrench in the engine bay of a plane, wellits more severe so its a company requirement that all toolbox are foamed to prevent tools being lost.
My box is a rousseau 84 inches wich is considered overkill for an aircraft mechanic. Usually a 60 inch toolbox is considered huge for an aircraft mechaniv because you want to roll it from plane to plane. But some guy want to park it and use bags to go into where they would works. Wich is what i mostly do. We mostly use 1/4 drive socket and although i have a 1/2 drive impact gun in there, i never use it and i have it merely because i like the way it look. I do use an impact driver and on some occasion a 3/8 impact electric ratchet but i mostly use my 1/4 drive electric ratchet. So enjoy my set up.
Fyi the rousseau toolbox is sold in the usa as tekton, but i bought it from rousseau directly so it is 100% custom made
So as you can see even the ignition key are foamed and everything in place
This drawer seem empty but its because i like having an empty drawer for future tools as i want to buy some open ended wrench that are non offset in the future. In this you see the 36" drive extension 3/8 and 1/4 wich is super usefull for unscrewing fuel panel on dash8 and atr. I put those extension on a speedhandle and can unscrew them while standing up instead of being on my knee. I can also use it on my 1/4 invh ratchet. Sometime i would use my impact driver but again, that fuel panel on the atr is worth around 30 000$ and use four wings screw (they look like phillips but are offset) so they dont have impact buts for those and regular bits would break often and risk damaging that 30k fuel panel. On the dash8 they sometime use philips wich i would use my impact with impact bit. Sometime they use triwing screw wich is a kind of screw that already come stripped because why not? In that case well good luck.
Here you see that impact driver i told you i never use. But the one in the middle, the butterfly imoact, omg that thing is the best invention since the invention of sliced bread. I can remove screw and bolt for fuel tank or leading edge so easily. Just be careful because one time a dumb new guy at my work was to open the fuel tank and i told him "oh take this tool, it is made for opening the fuel tank" and it did work but for some reason he had to then reclose it temporarely and used it to retitghten the screw and busted all the dome nuts behind it. Because it was an impact and he just kept pressing the trigger. And when i asked him if he drank brake cleaner before coming to work he answered me "well its your fault you told me that tool was designed for fuel panel" in otherword, never loan an impact tool to somebody who doesnt know how to use it. But i digress.
I also have many socket 1/2 inch drive wich are really used for specialty purpose such as landing gear bolts, but only for dash8. The embraer uses spline drive wich we have at the store and that i have elsewhere in my toolbox. I also have my electric drill, air gun, die grinder.
Here you have tools that i seldom use and most important stuff, its foamed in 3d. If you remove lets say the breaker bar, well underneath theres another breaker bar, and i have 4 plier on top of the other. But if a plier were to be missing, i would still know, because the top plier would not be flush then with the rest of it. So theres still tool control in it.
Now my top chest wich is a mastercraft. You might ask what is that black plier by the right. Well its a locking wire plier wich you find only in aviation and race car. Its basicly you take a steel wire, and you atach it in a hole on a bolt and you twist it and attach it to another hole in the head of a bolt in a way that will prevent bolts from looseninh. Kinda smart. You might also notcie duck bill plier wich are a must
These are my most used tools in there. The cotter pin puller bottom right, a must have also for aircraft mechanic. Those who knows know
My impact driver and electrical ratchet as well as my double boxed wrench, ratcheting wrench and flex socket.
My screwdriver. Tekton set plys a snap on ratcheting one and fourwing 8 and 10 and triwing 4 and 5
That big knipex, one coworker told me "man youre never ever ever going to need that why did you spend 250$ on that". Then that same week that same guy borrowed me that knipex FOUR times. When you want to remove bearing using the socket method, this is a must. Way faster than the rod method.
Underneath it i have my hammer and impact socket i use with that knipex
Off pic will be in comments
For a challenge, i removed one tool. If you can spot it, you are worthy of repairing aircraft maybe.
Second of all, tool control is everything. If a car mechanic loose is wrench in the engine bay of a car, most extreme case it damage the engine but mostly he loose a wrench. If an aircraft mechanic loose his wrench in the engine bay of a plane, wellits more severe so its a company requirement that all toolbox are foamed to prevent tools being lost.
My box is a rousseau 84 inches wich is considered overkill for an aircraft mechanic. Usually a 60 inch toolbox is considered huge for an aircraft mechaniv because you want to roll it from plane to plane. But some guy want to park it and use bags to go into where they would works. Wich is what i mostly do. We mostly use 1/4 drive socket and although i have a 1/2 drive impact gun in there, i never use it and i have it merely because i like the way it look. I do use an impact driver and on some occasion a 3/8 impact electric ratchet but i mostly use my 1/4 drive electric ratchet. So enjoy my set up.
Fyi the rousseau toolbox is sold in the usa as tekton, but i bought it from rousseau directly so it is 100% custom made
So as you can see even the ignition key are foamed and everything in place
This drawer seem empty but its because i like having an empty drawer for future tools as i want to buy some open ended wrench that are non offset in the future. In this you see the 36" drive extension 3/8 and 1/4 wich is super usefull for unscrewing fuel panel on dash8 and atr. I put those extension on a speedhandle and can unscrew them while standing up instead of being on my knee. I can also use it on my 1/4 invh ratchet. Sometime i would use my impact driver but again, that fuel panel on the atr is worth around 30 000$ and use four wings screw (they look like phillips but are offset) so they dont have impact buts for those and regular bits would break often and risk damaging that 30k fuel panel. On the dash8 they sometime use philips wich i would use my impact with impact bit. Sometime they use triwing screw wich is a kind of screw that already come stripped because why not? In that case well good luck.
Here you see that impact driver i told you i never use. But the one in the middle, the butterfly imoact, omg that thing is the best invention since the invention of sliced bread. I can remove screw and bolt for fuel tank or leading edge so easily. Just be careful because one time a dumb new guy at my work was to open the fuel tank and i told him "oh take this tool, it is made for opening the fuel tank" and it did work but for some reason he had to then reclose it temporarely and used it to retitghten the screw and busted all the dome nuts behind it. Because it was an impact and he just kept pressing the trigger. And when i asked him if he drank brake cleaner before coming to work he answered me "well its your fault you told me that tool was designed for fuel panel" in otherword, never loan an impact tool to somebody who doesnt know how to use it. But i digress.
I also have many socket 1/2 inch drive wich are really used for specialty purpose such as landing gear bolts, but only for dash8. The embraer uses spline drive wich we have at the store and that i have elsewhere in my toolbox. I also have my electric drill, air gun, die grinder.
Here you have tools that i seldom use and most important stuff, its foamed in 3d. If you remove lets say the breaker bar, well underneath theres another breaker bar, and i have 4 plier on top of the other. But if a plier were to be missing, i would still know, because the top plier would not be flush then with the rest of it. So theres still tool control in it.
Now my top chest wich is a mastercraft. You might ask what is that black plier by the right. Well its a locking wire plier wich you find only in aviation and race car. Its basicly you take a steel wire, and you atach it in a hole on a bolt and you twist it and attach it to another hole in the head of a bolt in a way that will prevent bolts from looseninh. Kinda smart. You might also notcie duck bill plier wich are a must
These are my most used tools in there. The cotter pin puller bottom right, a must have also for aircraft mechanic. Those who knows know
My impact driver and electrical ratchet as well as my double boxed wrench, ratcheting wrench and flex socket.
My screwdriver. Tekton set plys a snap on ratcheting one and fourwing 8 and 10 and triwing 4 and 5
That big knipex, one coworker told me "man youre never ever ever going to need that why did you spend 250$ on that". Then that same week that same guy borrowed me that knipex FOUR times. When you want to remove bearing using the socket method, this is a must. Way faster than the rod method.
Underneath it i have my hammer and impact socket i use with that knipex
Off pic will be in comments
For a challenge, i removed one tool. If you can spot it, you are worthy of repairing aircraft maybe.
. Have a few friends who are aircraft mechanics.
. But I’ve had some wonderful overnights in that beautiful city.