When I go off on a flying trip – be it for a week or just a day – I put together a collection of tools and other bits and pieces ‘just in case’. One LAME (who should remain un-named) once told me a good tool kit needs only two things in it – duct tape to stop it moving when it does but shouldn’t, and WD40 to get it moving when it should but doesn’t.

My kit usually consists of  some spanners (‘wrenches’ for our USA friends), a multi-head screwdriver, pliers, lock-wire, cable-ties and a spare spark plug and plug spanner. And when it’s a Rotax engine, a couple of exhaust springs, which always seem to break when I’m miles from home. All this lot gets put in a plastic box with some clean rags, along with the aforementioned duct tape and WD40, which rattles around somewhere in the luggage area of the aircraft.

However…I just heard of a custom-designed Pilot Tool Kit, made by a company in the States. It doesn’t have duct tape or WD40 but does include just about everything else you might need for a short trip and potential in-the-field maintenance and it’s all wrapped up nicely in a roll, so the contents don’t rattle around and break loose. The tools are said to be made from high-quality materials and, to back this up, all have a lifetime warranty. Weight isn’t bad for us Light Sport Aircrafters at around 1.5 kilos.

At the moment, the only place I can find to buy the kit is directly from the manufacturer – Cruz Tools in California. Order reference is PTK1. I’m sure suppliers like Aircraft Spruce and others will begin to stock it sooner or later.

Meanwhile, I’ve put it on my Christmas list in the hope that the Finance Director may be able to find room in the budget….