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What do you do with inspection panel screws during annual?

avrojockey

avrojockey

Well Known Member
Patron
Looking for techniques in keeping fasteners...

Tackle box?
Draw string bags?
Zip lock?

I was using label tackle box, but I'm thinking about switching to draw string parts bags
 
lipper03 said:
Back in place, they don’t end up missing!
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Yes, this works well for inspection panels. You can swing the panel out of the way on one screw so you don't run over it with your creeper.

For large pieces like the cowling, I put all the screws that are alike in a tuna can while I'm removing them, and then transfer them into a cupcake or muffin pan with labels for where they belong ( bottom of cowling, intake, cowl hinge pin cover screws,etc.). Same system for the wheel pants. I put pieces of rubber on the bottom of the muffin pan so it doesn't scratch paint or slide around.
 
Used 1 quart plastic yogurt containers. Also, any round 1 gallon plastic jug with the top cut off.
 
If I'm not sure I'll remember exactly what fastener goes in a hole, I put it back. But a lot of times I'll just put them in a container I make out of used quart oil bottles.

I've probably got 20 or so of them I keep on a shelf when not in use. It's a compulsion to pull empty quart oil containers out of the trash, cut the top 2/3rds off and put the put the remaining free "container" on the shelf. When I go to work on someone else's airplane, I'll throw a couple in my go bag because I know they probably won't have anything to hold loose small parts.
 
Small plastic snack cups with snap-on lids that you can get at your local grocery store. Combine common hardware together using multiple cups!

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3x4 inch non zip plastic bags. Screws in the bag, fold to a point and stick the point through a hole in the panel, pull through. Works great on corporate jets, ought to work fine for the RV.
 
My local EAA chapter has a box of donated plastic pill bottles (lots of old guys 😉) - I use those, with painters tape stuck on them, with comments on where the screws go.
 
At my recent permit renewal inspection (every year in UK) I decided to count the screws. Wheel Spats, Inspection Panels, the bulkhead screws, flap inspection panels, cockpit inspection panels, fairings, camlock’s etc

it was over 200 screws!

I use little pots and plastic bags. And an electric screwdriver (with a slip clutch so as not to damage any screws).
 
Walmart Bead Jars and empty ice cream containers, with a slip of paper saying where they go.

 

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wow so many ideas, I still like what I do better. I use clear shipping label pouches. I bought a box of a 1000 for around $30.
I put the screws in the bags/pouches and use the sticky part to stick it to the area of the plane/panel that it came out of. I know where they all go and I've never lost a screw, nut, bolt, etc. Here is a link to what I'm referring to.
 
At my dayjob with big jet overhaul we have cloth bags that tie. I'm not a fan, because I can't see inside them. At home shop where I do annuals as an IA, I prefer small ziplocks and ID them with a sharpie, then put them all in a a box. Simple to ID the inspection plate or part similarly. If it's a complex assembly, photos are taken and filed for keep or discard after I'm done. When the bags are empty, save if it's my plane for next time, or line through and use again. If I'm doing multiple planes or projects, different color sharpies. Get the good bags that are strong. They last forever. As others mentioned, you may want to tape bag to part, but RVs have way less panels than a Cessna type , and not really a factor.
 
I use the small 5 oz plastic yogurt cups that I wash and keep. I probably have at least 30 of them at the hangar and in my home shop.
 
Empty prescription medicine bottles. Screws from each item removed gets its own bottle with lid. Unfortunately I have quite a few of them. Lid is important as they tend to get moved and kicked once or twice.
 
Not the one I bought ~ 20 years ago but similar. Mooneys have dozens of panels that are removed for annual. Takes the better part of a whole day to open one up for inspection. I used one of these and worked front to back, left to right. The Mooney is gone but I still use the same and do similar though it doesn't fill-up like it used to. One more item to cloud the OP's thought process. These are never bad to have around for other reasons.

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Used prescription bottles with masking tape labels.
If a screw gives me even the slightest bit of trouble, I toss it
 
Not to far off from red solo cups....I use these mixing cups I have left over from the build. They're stackable and I can write on them with a sharpie to remind me where the fasteners go.

www.aircraftspruce.com

Non-Waxed Polyethylene Mixing Cups | Aircraft Spruce ®

Non-Waxed Polyethylene Mixing Cups Unwaxed Polyethylene, flat bottom paper cups in three convenient sizes for small mixes such as generic coats, paints, epoxies.
www.aircraftspruce.com www.aircraftspruce.com
 
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Based on the replies it seems that a lot of people remove many inspection panels and screws before they re-install them.

I always open up one area, do the inspection and then close it back up. There are a few areas that have many screws (empennage area, seat pans, baggage wall) but I always open up each section and re-assemble before moving on to the next section.

I also like to spread the inspection out over a few weeks. I will often do a flight after doing an inspection that requires a lot of dis-assembly & re-assembly. I feel that it reduces the chances of having a maintenance induced problem.
 
For years I have used the lunch-sized Pringle containers which have several benefits. 1)The can comes with PRINGLES in them! 2) Since you have to buy the Pringles anyway, the cans are essentially FREE! 3) They have a clear plastic lid that I write what's in them on the top and can look in to see what is in there 4) They are small enough, lots of them fit in a cardboard box and out-of-the-way. 5) did I mention they come with PRINGLES in them? :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

A minor drawback is that the lids don't fit on the bottom of the can as the top is a different size than the bottom (??). Minor drawback.

Did I mention they come with PRINGLES in them?:love:
 
Rick_A said:
Based on the replies it seems that a lot of people remove many inspection panels and screws before they re-install them.

I always open up one area, do the inspection and then close it back up. There are a few areas that have many screws (empennage area, seat pans, baggage wall) but I always open up each section and re-assemble before moving on to the next section.

I also like to spread the inspection out over a few weeks. I will often do a flight after doing an inspection that requires a lot of dis-assembly & re-assembly. I feel that it reduces the chances of having a maintenance induced problem.
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On my personal plane (RV-4), that's exactly what I do. Progressive annual, the final check before sign-off is usually the FWF.
 
Freemasm said:
Not the one I bought ~ 20 years ago but similar. Mooneys have dozens of panels that are removed for annual. Takes the better part of a whole day to open one up for inspection. I used one of these and worked front to back, left to right. The Mooney is gone but I still use the same and do similar though it doesn't fill-up like it used to. One more item to cloud the OP's thought process. These are never bad to have around for other reasons.

View attachment 95525
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Harbor Freight FTW! Those things are great for storage. I have several for all the miscellaneous fastener hardware airplane owners accumulate. I still prefer the polyethylene zip lock bags for temporary storage (screws and washers) because I can write on them and toss them randomly on my work cart, not having to worry about sorting, breakage, or (horror!) dropping the whole unit and spilling the contents. $8.

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Just a heads-up. Whatever you use, consider what happens when it falls!
Yea. It's not "if", it's "when".

Something with a lid is strongly recommended.
8oz water bottles are great. My mentor Dave, gave me that tip. Water is good for you. Dry them first. Even if one falls without a lid, very few parts fall out.
 
We use the tobacco sacks at work for panels that have removable fasteners. Ours are dyed orange so they stand out in bays, if the parts have to be left in the bay. For panels, typically, the screws are removed, bagged and tied to the panel itself, then the panel is placed in a rack to await reinstallation. It takes the mechanic as well as an inspector to approve an area for the panel to be reinstalled, with certain areas requiring supervision, QA supervision and customer inspection before the panel going back on. They also get used to protect connectors, or hold Adel clamps or other small parts for an installation, but too small to go into the parts racks on their own.

A huge word of caution about putting screws partially in the holes while panels are off. They are significant tear dangers to you. We've had untold numbers of mechanics, inspections, engineers and salary people that get hung up on them and get hurt. Quite a few have had to have stitches and at least one person that I know of, had to have a couple of surgeries to repair eye and eye socket damage when they caught a screw on the edge of their eye.... As we all grow older, it doesn't take as much force as it used to, to cause skin tears, so be quite mindful if you put the screws back in the holes while working in those areas...
 
I use small ziplock bags and tape the bag to the panel they came from before putting them in a rack for storage.
No questions on where they go or how many are required.
It drives me nuts when I walk into someone’s hangar and see piles of hardware on the floor of a hangar with parts/panels all over the place….yikes!!!
 
Small, convenient, snap-on lids, and cheap. You can write on them if you want, as well.
 

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Ditto. Every time. The few panels that don't get held on by one screw get placed on a shelf reserved for them.

Dave
 
noelf said:
I use discarded plastic medicine bottles. Each has a label of where on the aircraft the screws came from. Prior to reinstalling the screws, I look at each one and decide if it needs to be replaced with a new one.View attachment 95586
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Great post. Thanks for sharing. I'm building similar this weekend!

As for holding screws, I have really come to like these pop-out silicone magnetic parts holders. I'm pretty clumsy when it comes to containers but I haven't dropped, knocked over, or otherwise scattered hardware yet. Handy for all kinds of tasks and with different colors or combos you can have a convention that suits you.

 
Fo inspection panels I just stick them back in the nut plate, I also typically leave the panel attached by one loose screw on a corner and just swivel it out of the way rather than remove it.

For other stuff where that's not convenient, I have a bunch of parts bags in my toolbox that I will put hardware in and either tape or zip tie it to whatever it goes with
 
N8DAV8R said:
Great post. Thanks for sharing. I'm building similar this weekend!

As for holding screws, I have really come to like these pop-out silicone magnetic parts holders. I'm pretty clumsy when it comes to containers but I haven't dropped, knocked over, or otherwise scattered hardware yet. Handy for all kinds of tasks and with different colors or combos you can have a convention that suits you.

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But, if you switch-over to stainless steel inspection plate hardware like I did, then a magnetic parts holder might not work. I personally like the snack cups with snap-on lids for this.
 
I also use the snack cups with snap on lids. They are relatively cheap at your local supermarket, and nest for storage when not using them to contain parts. I write on the side of the cup with a sharpie where the parts/screws came from. After use, a quick wipe with acetone or mineral spirits removes the sharpie writing, leaving the cup ready for next use.

And with screws, I remove them one at a time from the cup, check that there is no damage to the screw head, give them a quick wipe on a boelube stick, and place them into another container ready to be reinstalled. If any damage to the head at all, toss it and replace with a new screw. Doesn't cost much, and avoids lots of time and potential damage the next time you need to remove the screw and the head strips, requiring drilling with easy-out, or in the worst case, drilling out the rivets holding the nut plate.
 
AVENT baby food containers with screw on lid.
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lucas2696 said:
3x4 inch non zip plastic bags. Screws in the bag, fold to a point and stick the point through a hole in the panel, pull through. Works great on corporate jets, ought to work fine for the RV.
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I think this is a winner! Simple, cheap, and super efficient!
 
I save empty plastic containers for use as hardware holders. Yogurt, sour cream, Chinese takeout (I love those, they're great as mini parts washing trays too)... I also somehow inherited a ton of clear plastic bags with foldover wire tabs (think bags of coffee) and those were great for my engine build and when moving from home to the airport.
 
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