Notes
Which gun, which bar, which foam
Practical notes for aircraft mechanics and for the people who buy their tools. No opinions about the state of the industry, no news, just the questions that come up before somebody spends money.
Choosing a Rivet Gun: 2X, 3X and 4X Explained
What the X number actually means, which gun sets which rivet, and why the answer for a first gun is almost always the 3X.
3 August 2026 · 3 minBucking Bars by Weight and Profile: Which One for Which Job
How to choose a bucking bar without buying eleven of them, why tungsten costs what it costs, and what a pitted face does to a shop head.
28 July 2026 · 4 minDimple Dies: Springback, Non-Springback, and Why Ripples Happen
What springback dies are actually for, why using them on ordinary sheet makes things worse, and the real cause of the ripples around a dimpled...
22 July 2026 · 3 minCleco Sizes and Colours Decoded, and How Many You Actually Need
The colour code, what each size fits, and an honest answer to how many clecos a build needs, which is more than you think and fewer than the...
16 July 2026 · 2 minWhat Goes in an A and P Mechanic Tool Kit, and What Does Not
A first kit built from what actually gets asked for, and an argument against the piece count that every kit on the market is sold on.
10 July 2026 · 3 minAvionics Tool Kit Checklist: Micro Drivers, Crimpers and Pin Extractors
What an avionics kit needs, why the right pin extractor matters more than it sounds, and why this is the first kit worth shadowing.
4 July 2026 · 3 minTorque Wrench Selection and Calibration for Part-145 Shops
Why three wrenches beat two, the most common torque error in maintenance, and what an auditor will ask about the one in your hand.
28 June 2026 · 3 minTwo Tone Foam Against Single Layer: What Auditors Actually Look At
Why the contrasting second layer is the whole point, what single layer foam is still fine for, and the difference between a tidy drawer and an...
22 June 2026 · 4 minSkydrol and Oil Resistance: Why Ordinary Foam Fails in a Hangar
What Skydrol does to standard foam, why a hydraulics trolley is a different specification from a bench drawer, and how to specify it once rather...
16 June 2026 · 3 minBuying Aviation Tools in the EU Against Importing: The Real Arithmetic
The full landed cost of a tool order from a US or UK supplier, the lines that do not appear at checkout, and when importing is still the right...
10 June 2026 · 4 minLonger reading
The compliance guides are longer and go deeper. Free, and not behind a form.
EASA Part-145 Tool Control: A Practical Guide
What Part-145.A.40 actually requires of tools and test equipment, what a tooling control system consists of...
Read the guideFOD Prevention Through Tool Control
What foreign object damage costs, why tools are the part of the problem you can actually design out, and an...
Read the guideAviation Tool Calibration: Records, Intervals and Traceability
ISO 10012, ISO/IEC 17025 and the ILAC MRA, what a calibration certificate has to say, how intervals are...
Read the guide