I have now ordered and received my Cruz Tools Pilot Tool Kit. Click on the photo for my YouTube video review.

This is the full Pilot Tool Kit – Cruz also supplies a Speedkit Aero set with a smaller number of tools, which I have not yet seen. However, even the full kit I’m looking at here is small and light enough to take on relatively local trips. For long range outback trips, you’ll need to take some more serious equipment, including a torque wrench, pop rivet pliers (with some rivets!), maybe a battery powered drill and tyre changing/repair tools.

I took my new kit to the recent Ausfly show at Narromine in New South Wales, but thankfully did not need it. For that trip – in the new A32 Vixxen – I replaced the standard Cruz aviation imperial size spark plug socket with a metric Rotax plug socket, complete with a driver, and I also added a pair of lock-wire pliers. A roll of duct tape completed the set.

In summary, my ‘likes’ include the compact size of the rolled up kit, the high quality and the generally well-considered contents. Things I’d be picky about are that the plug socket has no driver supplied in the kit, and maybe a pair of lock-wire pliers would be a better inclusion than just a pair of side-cutters. FoxbatPilot score: 8/10