Debate: Should we pull panels ourselves or call the sheet metal guys?

I was working on a King Air 200 last Tuesday up in Greensboro, wiring a new comm antenna through the crown. The coax run was fine but I hit a spot where the panel screw hole was stripped out. Normally I'd just grab a rivet and move on, but the sheet metal crew had already clocked out. So I spent 45 minutes trying to gently work the panel out without damaging the flanges, using a plastic trim tool and a lot of patience. It came off okay, but I scratched the paint a little. Now I'm wondering: are we avionics guys supposed to be doing our own panel work when the metal shop isn't around, or should we just wait and lose a day of install time? I've heard both sides. Some say it's part of the job to handle small stuff, others say you leave it to the pros to avoid costly redos. What do you do when you're stuck in that situation?

2 comments

2 Comments

tyler17625d ago

Just dealt with this last month on a Hawker panel. Grabbed a small pop rivet gun and some cherry max rivets from the supply room, matched the grip length to the doubler thickness, and had it secured in under ten minutes. Saved me from rescheduling the flight test for the next day and the sheet metal guys didn't mind at all when they saw the clean fix.

henry_moore5525d ago

Wow, I can't believe you had cherry max rivets just sitting in the supply room, @tyler176!