DAE remember when torque specs were just a number in the book and not a whole committee decision?

Jordan Foster · 2026-10-12T17:45:04.26831+00:00

I have been turning wrenches for 22 years now, and I swear the biggest change I have seen is how we handle torque around here. Back in 2003 at the shop in Wichita, a lead hand would point at a bolt and give you a number, and you torqued it and moved on with your day. Now we have online spec sheets, three people signing off, and a laptop plugged into the tool to log every single pull. Last month I spent 40 minutes waiting on a calibration sticker check before I could tighten four bolts on a flap track. The work did not get safer because of the paperwork, it got slower, and I think that is the part nobody wants to say out loud. I get the reason behind it, one bad torque job can ground a plane or worse, but there has to be a middle ground somewhere. Has anyone here worked in a shop that keeps the sign offs but skips the digital logging nonsense?

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DAE remember when torque specs were just a number in the book and not a whole committee decision? | Aircraft Mechanics - Free To Speak