c/avionics-technicians

Switched from paper logs to a tablet in the cockpit, took 2 weeks to trust it

I used to carry a clipboard with printed log sheets for every flight test. Checked every pin, wrote down every reading by hand, then typed it all into the computer when we got back. That double entry was a pain, but I trusted it. Last year we got issued rugged tablets with a custom app that logs everything straight from the test equipment. First couple weeks I kept a paper backup anyway. Now I only pull the paper out if the app glitches. The data is cleaner and I save about 45 minutes per test cycle. Anyone else made the jump and had to fight the urge to double check everything?

Are we too quick to swap line replaceable units instead of fixing the actual fault?

I pulled a faulty VHF comm out of a Cessna last month and the pilot wanted a new box on the spot. I spent 20 minutes tracing it to a cracked coax connector at the antenna base, saved the shop a couple grand. But my coworker argues time is money and swapping is safer. Which side do you lean on when the pressure's on?

Hit 10,000 flight hours logged and it caught me off guard

I was going through my maintenance logbook from the last contract in Phoenix and noticed I crossed 10,000 flight hours total. That number just hit me different, I never thought of myself as that seasoned. Ten thousand hours is a lot of time staring at wiring diagrams and chasing intermittent faults at 3 AM. It made me think about all the little fixes that got me here, like the time I traced a ghost issue to a chafed bundle behind the aft bulkhead. I guess I wanted to ask the folks here, when did you realize you had hit a big milestone and did it change how you approach your work at all? I feel like I should trust my instincts more now, but part of me wonders if I got lucky on some of those calls.

Old Fluke 77 meter read way off after a bench drop, fixed it with a $4 part

Dropped my Fluke 77 on the concrete floor at the Burbank hangar last Tuesday and noticed the AC voltage readings were bouncing around 12% low. Turned out the rotary switch contacts were just dirty from the shock, not broken. Cleaned them with contact cleaner and a bit of dielectric grease, now it's spot on against the lab reference at 120.7 volts. Anyone else had a meter go weird after a drop and find it was just the switch instead of a dead chip?

Shoutout to the ground crew who caught my bad bond on a 737NG inspection

So I was doing a routine bond and ground check on a 737NG last Wednesday out at the hangar in Phoenix, and I found a braided ground strap that looked fine from the top but was actually corroded halfway through underneath. The thing had maybe 3 strands still holding it together. I almost skipped it because the visual check was clean, but the meter showed a 0.5 ohm reading where I expected 0.01. I dug into it and sure enough, the inside was green and flaking apart. The ground crew had flagged a weird static discharge during fueling the week before, and nobody could figure out why. Turns out this was the culprit. Has anyone else run into hidden corrosion like that on those flex braids near the wheel well area?

Chose a used Avidyne IFD440 over a brand new Garmin GPS 175 for my Cessna 172 last fall

I had to make a call between two GPS navigators for my panel upgrade in Tulsa. The Garmin GPS 175 was $3,200 new but the used IFD440 popped up on a forum for $2,800 with 200 hours on it. I went with the Avidyne because it had the touch screen and the built-in VHF comm radio which saved me from buying a separate radio unit. Installation took me about 6 hours total since the wiring harness matched my old Garmin 430 pretty close. The first flight was a mess though, the unit kept losing satellite lock over the first 30 minutes near downtown. I had to swap the antenna cable after a buddy pointed out corrosion on the connector. Works fine now three months later but that initial hiccup made me nervous. Has anyone else run into compatibility issues with used avionics from online forums?

My GPS approach showed a 200 foot altitude discrepancy on a Citation Mustang

Had a Citation Mustang come through last month with the Garmin G1000 showing weird altitude numbers during an ILS. Pulled the pitot static lines and found a cracked fitting behind the avionics bay panel. Replaced it with a steel fitting instead of that plastic one from the factory. Anyone else run into those cheap plastic pitot fittings failing on the 500 series?

Had to pick between swapping a Garmin G500 vs rebuilding my old King KX155 last week

Went with the G500 since parts for the King are getting harder to find, and after 8 hours of bench work it fired right up first try. Anyone else run into this with older panel gear?

Fought a Garmin G1000 for 3 hours before realizing it was a loose ground wire

Overheard a new guy say "just twist the wires together" on a 737 last week

Dropped $180 on a fancy multimeter and it crapped out in 3 months

Bought a Fluke 87V because everyone said they were bulletproof and the display went fuzzy after some light use on a Cessna 172. Anyone else have a brand let them down like that?

Spent $180 on a Fluke meter... wish I had done it years ago

I finally got my crimp connections right after years of bad habits

Used to just twist wires together and tape them for quick fixes on the bench, but after a bad CAN bus failure grounded a King Air for 3 days last spring I switched to proper D-sub crimps with a new ratcheting tool. Turned out my old cheap crimper was leaving loose pins that would vibrate loose after a few hundred flight hours. Anybody else find a specific tool that totally changed their quality on harness repairs?

Rant: Worst wiring nightmare I've seen in 12 years on the bench

Had a King Air 200 come through last Tuesday that made me want to walk out. Previous shop had used speaker wire for the autopilot servo harness. Speaker wire. The insulation was rubbing through on a zip tie and shorted the roll servo to the airframe ground. Pilot said it kicked hard right on approach. Took me 2 days to trace and re-terminate the whole mess. Three splices jammed behind the radio stack with electrical tape. Who does that? Have you guys run into hack jobs this bad lately?

Debate: Did I waste $400 on a cheap multimeter or was it worth it?

I bought a $40 multimeter off Amazon last year and it kept giving me wonky resistance readings. Finally got checking my work with a buddy's Fluke and I was off by like 30% every time. That 'bargain' cost me 3 days of troubleshooting bad wiring in a Garmin install. Now I'm thinking I should have just dropped $400 on a proper meter from the start. But then again half the guys I work with swear by the cheap ones and say operator error is the real problem. Which side are you on have you been burned by a budget meter or do you think I just messed up the settings?

Rant: That 20 year old spectrum analyzer I bought off eBay was a mistake

Found a HP 8590L for $150 last month. Thought I was getting a steal. Hooked it up to check a UHF antenna on a King Air and the thing drifted 2 MHz in 10 minutes. Called a buddy at the local avionics shop and he said those old units need to warm up for like an hour before they stabilize. Even then the accuracy is questionable. Learned my lesson. Stick with gear that's been recertified or I'm just wasting time chasing ghosts. Any of you guys ever get burned by old test equipment?

Vent: Chat with a 20-year vet made me realize I've been overthinking my wiring harness planning

Had a beer with an old Delta guy named Jim who showed me a 30-year-old 737 panel he'd just rewired with nothing but a sharpie and zip ties, and it hit me hard that all my fancy CAD schematics aren't worth squat when the wire's gotta bend around a real bulkhead - anyone else ever get humbled by a simple trick from someone who's been doing it since the 80s?

I thought those $700 digital torque wrenches were a scam until I tested one on a 777 elevator actuator

I've been using click-type torque wrenches for 15 years and figured the digital ones were just overpriced gadgets. Then last week my buddy let me borrow his Snap-on digital after I snapped a bolt on a flap actuator. Has anyone else found a real difference in accuracy or is it just convenience?

Had a Garmin GNS 430 fail mid-flight last Thursday

I was up near Bakersfield on a routine check flight and the screen just went dark on the GNS 430. No warning lights or anything beforehand, just a dead unit. Pulled the circuit breaker and reset it, still nothing. Had to divert to Meadows Field and swap in a loaner box. Anyone else seen these older units give out with no warning signs?

The boss who told me to skip the schematic reading...

Had this one manager at a small shop in Tampa about 2 years ago who thought schematics were just a suggestion. I was tracing a short on a King Air power distribution panel and he walks over, says 'just look at the wires, you don't need that paper'. Dude was dead serious. So I followed his advice for like 20 minutes and got nowhere. Ended up pulling the schematic anyway and found the problem in 5 minutes - a corroded pin in a Cannon plug that was barely visible. He just shrugged and walked off when I showed him. Never seen someone so confident about being wrong. Has anyone else dealt with a lead tech who thinks diagrams are optional?

A quality manager ripped my wiring job apart and I changed everything about how I bundle

Dropped $120 on a Fluke clamp meter and it caught a phantom drain in 2 minutes that I'd been chasing for 3 days

Idk why I waited so long to buy one, my old multimeter just wasn't picking up that intermittent draw on the backup nav system, has anyone else had luck with a specific brand for troubleshooting weird electrical gremlins?

I was dead wrong about those cheap automotive crimpers

For years I swore by my $200 ratcheting crimpers for D-sub pins. Then last month I had to do a quick repair on a Cessna 172 in a hangar in Bumfuck, Nebraska and my good tool was back at the shop. The A&P on site handed me his $30 Amazon special crimpers and I almost laughed. But after 3 crimps I had to admit they worked fine. The pins held strong, no pulled strands, and the release was clean. I tested them on my bench connector when I got home and they passed the pull test every time. Now I keep a cheap pair in my go-bag for travel jobs. Has anyone else had a cheap tool surprise them or am I the only one who was snobby about this stuff?

That reverse polarity day that almost cost me a $12,000 repair

I disagree with the guys who say you should always trust the wiring diagram over your own eyes. Last Tuesday I found a mislabeled pin on a King radio harness that the manual said was ground but was actually hot. Has anyone else caught a factory error that could have fried a whole panel?

The Collins radio that taught me to trust my ears over my scope

Back in 2008 I was working a line maintenance gig at a small regional airport in Ohio. We had this old Gulfstream that kept throwing a flag on the Collins comm unit during preflight. My lead tech told me to pull out the scope and check the waveform, which I did for like two hours. Nothing looked wrong on the screen but the thing still wouldn't key up right. Finally the hangar manager came over, an old Navy guy named Tom, and said have you even listened to it yet. I plugged in a headset and sure enough the squelch was crackling something nasty. He showed me a pot adjustment that wasn't in the manual and it fixed it in five minutes. These days with all the digital avionics I hardly ever just sit and listen anymore. Has anyone else had an old timer show them a trick that their training completely skipped over?