Rant: That one inspector who told me I was 'too careful' with wiring harnesses

I still think about this guy from 2 years ago at a small hangar in Phoenix. He was an old FAA inspector checking my work on a Cessna 172. I had spent 4 hours routing a new harness, using tie wraps every 4 inches and protecting the bundle with proper sleeving. He looked at it for maybe 30 seconds and said 'you're spending way too much time on this, just zip tie it every foot and move on.' I was so frustrated because I wanted it to be clean and reliable, not just pass inspection. He actually told me that most avionics guys over-engineer everything because they're scared of failure. I remember thinking, isn't that the whole point of our job, to prevent failure? I asked him if he'd rather see a messy install that barely passes, and he just shrugged. Has anyone else dealt with an inspector or senior tech telling you to cut corners when you know better?

2 comments

2 Comments

parkernelson11d ago

Yeah that guy sounds like the kind of inspector who's been doing it so long he forgot what the job's actually about. What worked for me on my own projects was just ignoring that kind of feedback and keeping my standards, because I'm the one who has to sleep at night knowing the plane won't catch fire. If you let one lazy inspector talk you into doing less, it just gets easier to cut corners next time too. I'd rather have a harness that looks like a piece of art than something that barely passes, and I bet your work was solid.

bettym8911d ago

Did that guy ever explain what he actually thought was wrong with your work or just gave vague criticism?