Visited an A&P school open house and noticed half the students were using harbor freight tools

I stopped by the local community college's aviation maintenance program open house last Thursday. The instructors had their Snap-on boxes of course but the students working on the 172 trainer were using Pittsburgh torque wrenches and those cheap impact sockets. One student told me he's got $400 total in tools and passed his airframe written. Got me wondering if the whole "you need top tier tools to be safe" thing is really true or if it's just gatekeeping. On one hand you don't want a $20 wrench failing on a flight control cable. On the other hand these kids are getting it done. What do you guys think, is there a real line where cheap tools become dangerous or is it mostly about knowing your limits with them?

2 comments

2 Comments

burns.ruby29d ago

Wait, a snap-on box was just for display and the students all used Pittsburgh wrenches? That's wild. @troy_wilson8

troy_wilson81mo ago

Man, my buddy snapped a Harbor Freight ratchet on a car tire and swore off them forever.