My old shop lead told me to torque connector shells by feel, and it cost us a flap position fault on a King Air

Stella Perry · 2026-09-24T18:15:05.947924+00:00

Back when I was green at a shop in Wichita, my lead told me I did not need a torque wrench on cannon plug shells, just snug them by feel and move on. I did that for two years until a flap position fault showed up on a King Air 200 during a prebuy. We chased the fault for 9 hours over three days before we pulled the connectors apart and saw the pin fretting inside one shell that had never been torqued right. The manual called for 25 to 30 inch pounds and I was probably hitting 15 on the side I could not reach well. Now I keep a small torque wrench in my box just for shells and I check every one I touch. Has anyone else been given the by feel advice and had it bite them later?

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My old shop lead told me to torque connector shells by feel, and it cost us a flap position fault on a King Air | Avionics Technicians - Thought Shares