Loading…

Thought the torque stripe fad was just paperwork busywork until I found a loose bolt on a Navajo in Boise | Aircraft Mechanics - Babble Community

eric_knight7•23d ago

Thought the torque stripe fad was just paperwork busywork until I found a loose bolt on a Navajo in Boise

Back in my early days at a shop in Boise, an old timer made us paint torque stripes on every bolt we touched. I figured it was a waste of time, just something for the logbook so the next guy didn't have to ask questions. Then one Tuesday morning, prepping a Navajo for a return to service, I spotted a stripe sitting about 15 degrees off where it should have been on a wing spar bolt. Turns out I had missed the final torque step the day before and the stripe caught it before anyone signed off. Cost me ten minutes of rework instead of a potential call from the FAA. Now I won't let an apprentice skip it, even on the small stuff. Any of you have a process you used to roll your eyes at until it saved your hide?

2 comments

2 Comments

craig.mila23d ago

Wondering what made you finally stop rolling your eyes at it. Was it the King Air close call or did it take something worse? I ask because I see two kinds of guys in this trade, the ones who change after one scare and the ones who need three before it sticks. And on that prop bolt, did you find the stripe moved before or after you'd already run the plane? That part matters because a prop bolt walking is a whole different level of bad than a spar bolt. Curious if the stripe alone caught it or if there was some other sign first like a vibration or a small oil weep. I've been trying to figure out how to get the new guys to take it serious from day one instead of waiting on their own Tuesday morning moment.

nancy_coleman723d ago

Yeah we did the same thing at a place I worked and I thought it was just cover-your-ass paperwork. Funny thing, the stripe does two jobs at once. It shows the bolt was torqued, but if it moves even a little you see it right away without grabbing a wrench and checking every bolt again. Had a similar deal on a King Air once where the stripe walked on a prop bolt and we caught it during a walkaround. Ten minutes of rework beats an NTSB letter, every time.