A specific torque wrench check saved me from a repeat write-up

Got a repeat squawk for a loose fairing on a King Air 200 last month. The first time, I torqued it to spec with my old wrench. After the second one, I checked my wrench against a calibrated one and found it was off by about 8 inch-pounds. Now I check my personal tools against the shop standard every 90 days. Anyone else have a set interval for tool calibration they stick to?

3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

3 Comments

granta127mo ago

Good call on that regular check. Had a similar scare with a tire lug nut torque being off. Now I mark my calendar for a quarterly tool check too, just for peace of mind.

5

baker.ruby7mo ago

What kind of torque wrench do you use? I learned the hard way that the cheap click types can lose calibration fast. I keep a logbook now with the date and reading from my beam style wrench before each big job.

3

barbaraschmidt6mo ago

Honestly, my old torque wrench was probably off enough to build its own plane. I only caught it after a wheel almost came off during a taxi test. Now my tools get checked more often than my oil.

1