Shoutout to the old Delta guy who caught me using a speed handle wrong on a 737 panel

So I've been a mechanic for about 4 years now, mostly on smaller GA stuff but I moved over to a regional line last spring. I was working on a 737 flap track fairing (you know, the big fiberglass bit) and I was using a speed handle to get these 14 screws back in. This old timer named Dave from the Delta hangar next door walked by and just stopped. He goes 'You're gonna strip every third hole doing it that way.' I had no idea I was putting too much downward force on the handle instead of letting the spiral do the work. He showed me this trick where you barely push and let the tool pull itself in for like 2 seconds before you stop. I've been torquing my wrist for nothing and probably messing up threads on composite panels for months now. Anyone else have a veteran mechanic just drop some simple knowledge on you out of nowhere?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_wendy20d ago

Those are composite panels, not fiberglass.

blairm4419d ago

Wait, are you telling me my boat's hull was made out of fancy cardboard this whole time? I spent three weekends patching what I called "fiberglass cracks" last summer, and now I'm wondering if I just glued a bunch of craft store panels together with Elmer's. To be fair, my "repair job" involved enough duct tape to make a redneck proud, so maybe the boat already knew it was a lost cause. I guess I need to start reading labels before I go applying my high school shop class wisdom to expensive marine projects. Next thing you'll tell me is that my "marine grade" plywood is just regular plywood that got misted with salt water one time.