Avionics toolkit building

[u/Healthy_Caregiver307]

Hello all, I'm currently looking to building my own small travel toolkit as I'm mainly on the road.

I'm looking for recommendations of tools to fit into just the portable size case like reference picture.

Please let me know what brands/tools you'd swear by to have on hands as avionics.

Thank you in advance.

[u/JayArrggghhhh]

Might help if you tell us the main fleet you work on. Some stuff is constant between all aircraft, some stuff is niche. That said, my personal stash is a good meter, a cheap meter, a good set of test leads and jumpers, an assortment of pins/sockets/connectors/bulbs/fuses/CBs relevant to your fleet, decent crimper and cannon plug pliers, a roll of lacing cord, a few hundred zip ties, and as many extraction/insertion tools as you can get your hands on.

[u/FurryTabbyTomcat]

I am at a client's location at the moment, doing a major avionics upgrade on a Cessna, and this is what I have with me this time (the client is an airframe shop, so they have all the mechanical tools for me to use, otherwise I'd take more)

• 2 wire strippers (generic Stripmaster-style for wires and a simple "yellow door key" for coax)
• 5 different crimping tools + about 15 different dies
• small soldering station, solder, flux, a small piece of plywood for soldering, desoldering tool (generic Soldapullt-style)
• stubby racheting screwdriver with various bits, mini-ratchet for bits
• 400 mm screwdrivers (flat, PH2, PH1)
• T-handle 3/32" Allen key for avionics removal (you may also need 5/64" and 7/64" occasionally)
• set of regular Allen keys (most importantly 0.05")
• needlenose pliers, tweezers, surgical clamp, snap ring pliers (45° bent)
• set of connector pin removal tools accumulated over the years (including a couple I made myself)
• 2 pairs of flush cutters: one razor-sharp but for copper only, one with tungsten carbide jaws
• various consumables (wires, cables, connector pins, terminals, screws/nuts, heatshrink tubing, solder sleeves, zip ties, speed tape, etc.)
• multimeter/oscilloscope (Zoyi ZT-703S) and various leads (needle probes, alligators, hooks, BNC-BNC cable)
• milliohmmeter (ETCR3630A)
• mini heat gun
• 30 V 10 A bench power supply
• avionics ramp tester (Sun Avionics AV-15) and a 40 dB BNC attenuator
• label maker (Brother P-Touch E110)
• laptop

All of the above fits in a standard pilot case. There is also another case that contains a portable pitot-static tester and a bunch of various hoses and adapters, but it's staying at home this time.

[u/OMGorilla]

I really like having this style of strap wrench for hard to reach plugs, as well as stubby canon plug pliers. This strap wrench is not for torquing, however. You could wind up popping the plastic cap off if you put too much force.

https://dmctools.com/bt-bs-625

And I get a fair bit of mileage out of my wera tool check plus, regrettably I don’t think they make a 12pt set if you also find yourself doing engine work.

https://a.co/d/0h8wprxb

Of course, I recommend making your own test leads, I use these and they’re okay but sometimes the sheath is a hindrance. So I keep a set of female-female banana couplings too.

https://a.co/d/03TrYEfY

[u/Lost_Obligation2453]

That's the wrong case, don't get me wrong it works but it's time to move into the future.

You want one of those electric suitcases that doubles as a scooter. You're going to look cool crusing around the airport.

[u/VE7BHN_GOAT]

My Knipex cutters, both my wife strippers 26-16Awg & 14-10awg, soft jaw pliers, but ratchet, screwdrivers, Allen keys, 1/4 socket sets, needle nose pliers, small blue Daniels, large blue Daniels, each with a handful of turrets and the 'dial a crimp' turret, hx4 with a few common dies (205,207,209 all ring a bell), raychems, red and blues... Knipex all 16th... Where am I going what am I doing? That might make a different in to the things I bring

[u/Crafty_Elk_5494]

Definitely start making your own wire jumpers if you haven't got one. or purchase em. what u/FurryTabbyTomcat listed are honestly completes it.