Pry bar found under engine cowling when I removed it.

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CherokeeGirl

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CherokeeGirl
It certainly wasn't their the last time I had it off and it hasn't been in the shop for engine maintenance since.

No idea when that could've been placed there, but the airport's service that does towing did crack my wheel fairing so it was in their shop to replace it. I see no reason why they would've had the engine cowling off but I can't think of another reason why that tool was up there.

I'm just glad I had a mag check issue that kept me from flying today. I hope that wasn't the reason for that.

Any suggestions on how to "return" the tool? An honest mistake or should I use a different shop?
 
They told us to never engrave our tools when I was in A&P school :)

This happens all the time...glad it did not cause an issue.

Years ago, I found a large wooden handle screwdriver inside the cowl of my Bonanza...it had the mechanic's name on it. A friend saw the fabric on his Cessna 120 left wing bulging in flight...ball peen hammer inside.
 
CherokeeGirl said:
Any suggestions on how to "return" the tool?
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FWIW: All depends on where you want to be after you do this. At a minimum use it to find out why your engine cowl was off for a fairing repair. Then you can either make it a positive or negative experience based on their answer. But mistakes do happen which I've been guilty of myself. However, poking around your aircraft with no approval is not right either without a valid reason.
 
You should return it to your tool box. I worked at a Cessna dealer some years ago. I have a bunch of tools in my box removed from new airplanes found during the pre delivery inspection and a bunch more given to me by other mechanics.

stuff happens. Make sure you let everyone that has worked on your airplane know you appreciate the free pry bar.
 
Was it somewhere a careless person could have shoved it up inside the cowling through the cowl inlets? "I need to set down a pry-bar for a minute while I..." and then a distraction happens.
 
At least you didn’t hear a cell phone ringing from under the cowling.
 
When I was in The Navy every tool in the box needed to be accounted for before the work could be signed off. Most GA mechanics do not do this..
 
Thanks for both the useful and humorous comments. I'm not completely happy about it, but I do feel a bit better about it. I'm starting my A&P classes in August specifically so I can both understand and not be at the mercy of other shops for all my repairs.
 
Doug, they told us the same thing in A&P school. Never engrave your tools. I had already engraved a bunch of my tool before I got the news:)
I’ve found so many tools left in airplanes. Most were at the airlines. None had names engraved. A large rechargeable flashlight hit me in the foot during landing once. It fell out from behind the instrument panel.
 
kyleb said:
Was it somewhere a careless person could have shoved it up inside the cowling through the cowl inlets? "I need to set down a pry-bar for a minute while I..." and then a distraction happens.
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Really!
What next, someone has a bag of sugar they need to get rid of….fuel tanks seems a good place to dump it.

I would try to find out why it was there.
 
AKBill said:
When I was in The Navy every tool in the box needed to be accounted for before the work could be signed off. Most GA mechanics do not do this..
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P-3 Squadron in the hangar next to our Prowler squadron found a 6 foot ladder inside a fuel cell on a plane they received from the rework. :eek:

It happens but I'd sure be asking questions about a pry bar.
 
A pry bar is a fairly aggressive tool, I'd be most curious why it was being used.
 
Ha, everyone finds tools, but no one leaves them!

It's common, it's a problem that truly needs some mitigation, but 99.999% are innocuous.....and .001% will kill someone.

I have tried to always put everything from a project away (except for the screwdriver to close up panels), then 'flashlight' around in all openings. Just taking a little time when not busy or distracted. Just "looking and feeling around" for a few moments.
 
Jdm said:
they told us the same thing in A&P school. Never engrave your tools.
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That was old school. A number of operators required tool ID to the person to include my old day job. The majority of my tools have my old employee number etched/stamped on them but I would always admit if it was my tool regardless if it was marked or not. However the "don't mark your tools" is becoming moot as operators move to digital tool tracking. For example, the old day job is buying every mechanic a SNAP-ON Level 5 tool box which automatically tracks tool inventory. My understanding its real easy to find the owner of wayward tools whether marked or not.
 
Jdm said:
Doug, they told us the same thing in A&P school. Never engrave your tools. I had already engraved a bunch of my tool before I got the news:)
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Decades ago, Falcon Jet in Little Rock was doing the first 12 year inspection where you open up the wing fuel tanks on our Falcon 20. Inside one of the wings they found an engraved wrench from when the airplane was built. Falcon Jet traced it back to the employee, who had retired, and mailed it to him in France.
 
I pick up my tools and put them away several times during the day. To many mechanics have a pile of tools out and wait till the end of the day to put them away. That drives me crazy
 
I have a number of free tools, some nice ones like Snap-on, that I've found in planes and cars over the years.
 
CherokeeGirl said:
No idea when that could've been placed there, but the airport's service that does towing did crack my wheel fairing so it was in their shop to replace it. I see no reason why they would've had the engine cowling off but I can't think of another reason why that tool was up there.
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Nosewheel fairing? I've never owned or worked on a Piper, but I thought you had to lift the tire off of the ground to do remove this fairing? Even though people will put weight on the tail to accomplish this, I believe the proper method is to lift it using an engine hoist, requiring the upper cowling to be removed.
 
I seemed to always leave one tool in an inconspicuous place on each plane that I worked on.

It was usually engraved with the name of a coworker I hated.

:D

Not true.

However, during my years working at the airline's hangar, I did find a couple tools that had likely been behind a panel since the last C-check with the initials or name of coworkers. These were quietly handed back to them when no one else was around. This was in stark contrast to what another guy did one time. He came into a crew meeting and with the manager present made a big deal out of handing a marked screwdriver that he found inside a wing panel back to the mechanic who had likely left it there. Totally unnecessary.
 
AKBill said:
I pick up my tools and put them away several times during the day. To many mechanics have a pile of tools out and wait till the end of the day to put them away. That drives me crazy
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Me too. My background in professional racing led me to use only the tools necessary for what I had my hands on at the moment. When that task was finished and I moved to something else, those tools went back in the box. I still work that way.
 
A friend found a flashlight inside a wing when doing an owner assisted annual. I asked if he returned it to the mechanic. No he said, it had my name on it.
 
Brian Bosworth (former linebacker), who used to work at GM and would drop loose bolts in the cavity of new cars just to drive owners crazy.
What a @$$(#)* !
 
Bell206 said:
That was old school. A number of operators required tool ID to the person to include my old day job. The majority of my tools have my old employee number etched/stamped on them but I would always admit if it was my tool regardless if it was marked or not. However the "don't mark your tools" is becoming moot as operators move to digital tool tracking. For example, the old day job is buying every mechanic a SNAP-ON Level 5 tool box which automatically tracks tool inventory. My understanding its real easy to find the owner of wayward tools whether marked or not.
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Very interesting. Sounds like a fancy shop! Just read about this snap on level 5 box tracking system. Awesome technology.
 
Sometimes you find things like Bucking Bars by the “ measles” looking bumps on

the wing bottom.

While taking a wood wing Mooney off jacks I heard a clunk.

We were able to locate the spot but no access.

Fearing the worst a tiny inspection hole was found.

When seeing a white & red item we decided to o cut an access hole.

Then we took the GLUE POT out
 
Lowflynjack said:
Nosewheel fairing? I've never owned or worked on a Piper, but I thought you had to lift the tire off of the ground to do remove this fairing? Even though people will put weight on the tail to accomplish this, I believe the proper method is to lift it using an engine hoist, requiring the upper cowling to be removed.
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no, the proper way is by using jacks, from the piper service manual:

2-12. JACKING: Jacking the airplane is necessary to service the landing gear and to perform other service
operations. Proceed as follows: (Refer to Figure 2-4.)
a. Place jacks under jack pads on the front wing spar.
b. Attach the tail support to the tail skid. Place approximately 250 pounds of ballast on the base of
the tail support to hold down the tail.

putting weight on the tail is not a good idea as it concentrates the weight on a small area whereas the downforce it produces in flight is distributed across the entire surface. jacking with an engine hoist can bend tubes if not done right and should never be done using the lift ring on the engine, thats a good way to crack a case, the ring was designed to lift the weight of the engine not the plane.
 
unsafervguy said:
no, the proper way is by using jacks, from the piper service manual:

2-12. JACKING: Jacking the airplane is necessary to service the landing gear and to perform other service
operations. Proceed as follows: (Refer to Figure 2-4.)
a. Place jacks under jack pads on the front wing spar.
b. Attach the tail support to the tail skid. Place approximately 250 pounds of ballast on the base of
the tail support to hold down the tail.

putting weight on the tail is not a good idea as it concentrates the weight on a small area whereas the downforce it produces in flight is distributed across the entire surface. jacking with an engine hoist can bend tubes if not done right and should never be done using the lift ring on the engine, thats a good way to crack a case, the ring was designed to lift the weight of the engine not the plane.
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Fair enough! Thanks for correcting me!
 
I had a plumber lose his hammer when doing some work in my restaurant many years ago (no longer in that business). He was ******** - kind of looked at us like we stole it, but I think he deep down knew better. About 12 years later, we found his hammer between wall studs in the area he had been working while doing some renovations. I gave it back to him - "I've been looking for that" he said.
 
Surgeons are constantly reminded of how they should learn from aviation and implement proper checklist usage. This looks like a case where aviation should learn from surgery, and implement a simple instrument count before and after every procedure...
 
Sifossifoco said:
Surgeons are constantly reminded of how they should learn from aviation and implement proper checklist usage. This looks like a case where aviation should learn from surgery, and implement a simple instrument count before and after every procedure...
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Well, I asked my boss one time for a hot nurse to hand me my tools and put them back. After all, I am a Doctor of Airworthiness. He said no.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Well, I asked my boss one time for a hot nurse to hand me my tools and put them back. After all, I am a Doctor of Airworthiness. He said no.
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I would never want to discriminate being old myself, but the average age of RNs is 51...
 
SkyDog58 said:
Well, I asked my boss one time for a hot nurse to hand me my tools and put them back. After all, I am a Doctor of Airworthiness.
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Sifossifoco said:
I would never want to discriminate being old myself, but the average age of RNs is 51...
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I don't know about the 51... but a number of the flight nurses I was recently around didn't appear to be that old. But if they were even better that they aged so well. Ain't that right Doc Dog.
 
Bell206 said:
I don't know about the 51... but a number of the flight nurses I was recently around didn't appear to be that old. But if they were even better that they aged so well. Ain't that right Doc Dog.
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Yep. Besides, those who equate hot with young are just nuts and/or inexperienced.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Yep. Besides, those who equate hot with young are just nuts and/or inexperienced.
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Would never do that, being almost 60 myself! Besides, wrong as it may be the conventional depiction of the 'hot nurse' beats the 'hot A&P mechanic' 99% of the times
 
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