Nice kit flylow.

A word of caution about blowing/sucking on things. I was in the Idaho Backcountry in the 185 flying/fishing. Took off to move to another strip and the airspeed indicator moved not a bit. After I landed I blew in the pitot tube and sure enough it was restricted. So then I decided sucking hard on it was in order and nearly gagged on a big black ant.


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Must....resist....slow pitch...

Zzz wrote:Must....resist....slow pitch...

yeh yeh yeh


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Many times I've had the pitot partially plug or freeze shut. Flying or parking in rain or snow can do that. I carry a couple of flocked pipe cleaners to insert, twist, and route out the water debris or bugs. If frozen grab it with a warm hand first then make sure it's open. The more exposed the pitot the easier it happens. My Citabria on floats would do it in rough water as the probe hangs below the jury struts and picked up water easily.

If you suck on the pitot be prepared to damage the airspeed's mechanism.

Gary

Uhh...how did we go from the right "traveling tool kit" to talking about sucking and blowing on stuff? lol

I think flylow pretty much has it covered with his took bag, complete with the zip-ties.

Those Knipex pliers are great, pricey but well worth it, for those unaware of their existence, check them out. So handy, and so expensive, I keep stealing the plane's pair, (my only pair) for shop use, like I also do with my rope comalong.

courierguy wrote:Those Knipex pliers are great, pricey but well worth it, for those unaware of their existence, check them out. So handy, and so expensive, I keep stealing the plane's pair, (my only pair) for shop use, like I also do with my rope comalong.

Agreed on the knipex Tom. I got a 5" set, which are their smallest ones, and when I first saw how small they were my first thought was "I'll never use those little ones, only the bigger ones". Turns out those little biggers are the ones I use the most! The bigger ones get used more for things like squeezing the odd rivet if needed.

MTV...when you were replacing spark plugs, how did you identify which one needed changing? Did you have an engine analyzer, or did you just have to start pulling the top or bottom plugs to find the bad one? Also...what about just flying back on eleven of the twelve plugs? I've never faced the decision, though of course since I don't cary plug removal tools, I'd have little choice.

Hammer wrote:MTV...when you were replacing spark plugs, how did you identify which one needed changing? Did you have an engine analyzer, or did you just have to start pulling the top or bottom plugs to find the bad one? Also...what about just flying back on eleven of the twelve plugs? I've never faced the decision, though of course since I don't cary plug removal tools, I'd have little choice.

On that engine, top plugs foul. Check all four. Also, if you know the plug leads sequence, and have a lame mag drop, that eliminates half the plugs.

With injectors, feel each cylinder right after shutdown, bad injector cylinder will be cool.

MTV

A set of titanium combination wrenches (45% lighter than steel) bought solely to carry in aircraft.

https://www.imprex.net/product-category ... -wrenches/

Also a 2’ length of supple nylon rope to remedy stuck valves in the field. Haven’t had to use it since I stopped letting others fly my airplane and operate my engine.

What problems can you personally fix alone? At the very MOST, carry tools for those things.

In my case, I don’t think I’ll ever need to do an oil change in the middle of nowhere, so my tool requirements are pretty minimal!

Some great ideas here - definitely helping me to refine my list for this summer.

A couple of things I also carry which I haven't seen mentioned on here yet, in the event of off-airport prop damage:
- file
- hacksaw blade

courierguy wrote:Those Knipex pliers are great, pricey but well worth it, for those unaware of their existence, check them out.....

Which ones in particular?
They make a "cobra" & an "alligator", both of which look like channel-locks (aka "water pump pliers") with curved jaws.
And the "pliers wrench" and "rap raptor" which both look to be intended for hex nut & bolt use.

hotrod180 wrote:

courierguy wrote:Those Knipex pliers are great, pricey but well worth it, for those unaware of their existence, check them out.....

Which ones in particular?
They make a "cobra" & an "alligator", both of which look like channel-locks (aka "water pump pliers") with curved jaws.
And the "pliers wrench" and "rap raptor" which both look to be intended for hex nut & bolt use.

The plier wrenches are the ones I really like.

A1Skinner wrote:The plier wrenches are the ones I really like.

Ditto, and I carry the same two sizes as David does.

KNIPEX 86 03 180 SBA 7-1/4" Straight Smooth Jaw Tongue & Groove Pliers are the ones I love. The hing works with pressure not grip. Gets much better purchase on fasteners without tearing them up.

I also have several sizes and have them on my dirt bikes as well as plane.

Hammer wrote:I cary a lot of tools, but a spark plug wrench isn't one of them. I lean the engine as soon as I start up, and fastidiously monitor the engine in flight to ensure correct air-fuel mixture. In thousands of hours of flying I've NEVER had to pull a plug in the field. Come to think of it, I've never met anyone who has...or at least nobody who ever mentioned it.

Am I just lucky?

My RV-6 sat through a soaking storm one night. My air filter sits in front of cyl 2 and has a snorkel that leads into the forward facing sump on the IO0360 angle valve. Water came pouring in and filled the sump and tubes. Went to start the next day with no joy. Probably 3 cups of water in the intake run. It took 4 hours to track down a plug socket as none of the ones at the auto parts stores were deep enough. Once I got the plugs pulled and dried it fired right up and I was on my way. I never leave home without that one socket now.

I'm going to say, I am a tool junkie! Seems like I have a dozen of every tool but have never seen the Knipex! I have something similar, but that plier definitely appears to be a 'better mousetrap' !!

Not cheap but I think I will have to get one. Sounds like the little 5" is the most useful.

Knipex are pretty much universally found in any helicopter engineer's toolbag these days. Borrowed a pair to fix a cranky Herman Nelson in Rock Springs last fall. So we could get outta there.