Took me 5 years to stop overtorquing fuel line fittings

My first couple years on the line I was cranking down fuel fittings like I was tightening lug nuts on a semi. Old guy at our hangar in Detroit finally pulled me aside after I snapped a flare nut on a King Air. He showed me how to use a crow's foot and a torque wrench set to the manual spec, not my arm strength. Now I barely tighten them by hand before the final click on the wrench. Anyone else have a mentor embarrass you into fixing a bad habit?

2 comments

2 Comments

carr.brian5d ago

You ever had a buddy who learned things the expensive way? My friend Mark used to crank fuel fittings like he was wrestling an alligator until he cross threaded a union on a Cessna 172. Got a call from the chief at 6 AM on a Saturday asking why there was avgas dripping on the hangar floor. Had to spend the whole weekend redoing the line and buying lunch for the crew. After that he started taping the torque spec to his toolbox just so he wouldn't forget. Did your guy give you any other tricks for remembering the feel?

gibson.robert5d ago

@carr.brian now I'm thinking maybe I should laminate the torque page from the manual and tape it to my toolbox like your buddy did. Might save me from having to buy lunch for the whole crew one day.