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Used a $9 flashlight on a pitot heat check last Tuesday and missed a chafed wire the shop light would've caught
I want to flag something that almost bit us on a King Air 200 inbound from a quick turn in Wichita last Tuesday. We were chasing an intermittent pitot heat fail and I grabbed my little pocket light to peek up in the wing root instead of rolling the big corded light over, mostly because I was being lazy and the ramp was cold. I poked around for maybe 15 minutes, saw nothing, signed it off as a connector reseat and sent the plane out. Two days later it came back with the same squawk and the next guy found a chafed wire bundle tucked behind a rib that my little light just flattened out with no shadows. The cheap light makes everything look fine because it hits dead on, but the big light throws side shadows that show you where wires rub and where insulation is starting to go. I ate crow with the lead and we redid the whole run with proper light and a mirror. Anyone else notice they find way more chafing with a raking light than a bright direct beam? Curious what light setups you all are actually rolling out to the ramp.
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john4301mo ago
King Air 200 wing root got me too, my $9 light makes every wire look brand new.
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