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That old DC-9 line guy who showed me a better way to safety wire
That old DC-9 line guy who showed me a better way to safety wire. I was working night shift at a small regional outfit in Wichita about 8 years ago, and there was this old timer who must have been 65. He came over while I was struggling with a safety wire job on a cotter pin hole that was barely accessible. He didn't say much, just watched for a minute, then pulled out a pair of wire twisters I'd never seen before. He showed me this trick where you pre-twist the wire before even threading it through the hole, which saved like ten minutes of fumbling. I still use that method today on every connector I do. It stuck with me because he didn't lecture me or call me out in front of the lead mechanic, he just quietly shared it. Anyone else ever have a moment like that where a simple trick from a veteran totally changed your routine?
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the_eric14d ago
Pre-twisting before threading is the kind of trick that looks backwards until you try it. I had a similar thing with a B-1 crew chief who showed me to pinch the wire with a hemostat right at the hole instead of trying to grab it with twisters from an angle. Saves a ton of cussing when you're working blind and your knuckles are already bleeding. Those old birds know every shortcut that keeps a job from turning into a three-hour nightmare.
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the_claire13d ago
Those hemostat tricks save more knuckles than any manual ever will.
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jenny19813d ago
My knuckles still haven't forgiven me for all the years before I learned that trick.
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