Rant: The lead mechanic at my first regional airline job told me torque wrenches are overrated

So I was fresh out of A&P school working at a small regional outfit in Boise. The lead guy, Bob, had 30 years in and he'd tell me to just 'feel it' instead of using a torque wrench on control cable turnbuckles. I went along with it for the first 6 months cause I didn't want to rock the boat. But one day I caught him on a Cessna 208 and he'd cross-threaded a nylock nut so bad it stripped. I finally spoke up and asked him about it, and he just shrugged and said he'd never had a problem before. So which side are you on - do you trust the old school 'feel' or do you follow the manual every time? Curious if anyone else has dealt with a veteran who pushes back on the book specs.

3 comments

3 Comments

ivanbell10h ago

Wait, he cross-threaded a nylock nut on a control cable and still thought his method was fine?

taraross8h ago

@gavin365 nailed it. Cross-threading a nylock on flight controls isn't "feel," it's just lazy and dangerous lol.

gavin3659h ago

Man, I gotta be honest I really DO see this differently from a lot of people here. Bob's method might be sloppy but I think the old school 'feel' has its place on some stuff like control cable tension if you've been doing it for 30 years. But cross threading a nylock nut on a flight control is just pure carelessness, that's not 'feel' that's bad habits taking over. The manual is there for a reason especially on critical parts like flight controls, and it makes zero sense to risk a whole airplane just because you don't want to grab a torque wrench. I've seen guys who can torque by hand on non critical stuff and it's fine, but on anything that moves air or controls the plane you better have that wrench in your hand.