Appreciation post: the old A&P who pointed out my torque wrench habit on the hangar floor in Tulsa

Amy Taylor · 2026-10-11T23:50:03.344577+00:00

Two years back I was buttoning up a flap actuator and this guy named Dale, 30 plus years on the line, stood there and just said "you're torquing off the click, not the spec." He meant I was running fasteners down snug and then giving it one big pull, so the wrench hit its number before the bolt was even seated. I switched to a three step pull, snug, then smooth to the click, then a slow second pass on anything over 40 inch pounds, and my sign offs went from a weekly rework to almost nothing. Anybody else get schooled on pull technique or is it just the guys at my shop who never mention it?

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Appreciation post: the old A&P who pointed out my torque wrench habit on the hangar floor in Tulsa | Aircraft Mechanics - SMM Buzz