Still don't get the obsession with fiber optic scopes in our line of work

I was out at a regional hangar in Wichita last Wednesday helping a buddy trace a flickering nav light on a King Air 200. Every other tech there popped out a $600 borescope looking for chafed wiring inside the wing root. I spent 20 minutes using a dental mirror and a shop light from three different angles and found the cracked insulation right where it passed over a stiffener. They all laughed until I had the fix done while they were still fussing with camera angles. Am I the only one who thinks we lean too hard on expensive inspection tools when a simple mirror and patience does the same job?

2 comments

2 Comments

tyler_white4229d ago

And another thing, @wadeg92, it's not just about being old school. Those borescopes have their place on turbine blades and combustion liners where you can't get a mirror in there. But for something like chasing chafed wires in a wing root, sometimes a good eyeball and a light from the right angle beats a grainy camera video every time. The real skill is knowing when the gadget actually helps and when it just slows you down.

wadeg9229d ago

Man it's like everyone's forgotten how to just look at stuff with their own eyes and figure it out without a gadget. Same thing at the hardware store, people buy laser levels to hang a picture straight when a bubble level from the 80s works fine.