Apparently I'm Going To Work On Astars...

[Kramer]

The majority of my tools are standard. Actually, all of the ones I have at work. But, with an astar course that will have to change, I think...

 

What does a guy need? What's bare bones? What's nice?

[autorevs]

The majority of my tools are standard. Actually, all of the ones I have at work. But, with an astar course that will have to change, I think...

 

What does a guy need? What's bare bones? What's nice?

 

A big hammer for the electrical problems!!!

[picapart]

A big hammer for the electrical problems!!!

 

also a big bench to lay the books open ,because it always takes 5 books to do a task

[arctic_front]

Hmmm, a couple that come to mind... 14 mm crowsfoot, 2 19 mm open end wrenches... one of them ground down to make the end thinner( pitch links) 4 or 5 mm sockets and wrenches for the small stuff.. Laptop to run Open 350.

 

Ask some guys other than us when you see them out in the field. Each will have his own fav's

 

I'm kind of in the same boat as you.. took course but haven't worked on them.

[RTR]

2 good sets of 1/4 inch drive metric 12 point sockets, one shallow, one deep. You will use the 7mil one alot.

 

Wrenches up to 27 mm as well.

 

A good meter that will read frequency.

 

Carry a film canister full of mastinox...its everywhere.

 

Just a few.

 

RTR

[lamanated]

A ground down 13 mm wrench for drive shaft, a 7 and 10 mm 6 point as some nuts are rounded like the T/R gearbox ones when you hook the accelerator bracket on. a 5.5 mm socket for the compass.Big side cutters for split pins on the head,bolt welded to a handle to pull fuel filters.deep socket and long threaded bolt to pull drive shaft tube pins.cut down allen wrench for fuel pumps

[Heliian]

If you learn how to use the open350 and actually understand the manuals, you're set.

 

There are lots of oddball things on the astar's as some kits that are installed have standard hardware, even the stc'd windsheilds have standard hardware. Most common sizes are: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32. If you think it's 25mm, it's actually 1". I have an SK 1/4" dr. 12pt deep and shallow, a mastercraft 6pt 1/4" dr deep and shallow, a nice little set of ratcheting box end wrenches 8,10,13 are the most used, a couple of offset service wrenches, Knipex are a must along with the usual suspects. you can jam a bunch of tools in a bag for quick trips but if you're doing majour work you'll need a few more things for the bigger stuff. my 17 and 19 are ground down for the tighter spots and if you like using the right tool for the job, you'll need extra's for the jamnuts.

 

The Astar is one of the most engineer freindly helicopters I have ever seen.

Have fun and good luck!!

[InspectorGadget]

If you learn how to use the open350 and actually understand the manuals, you're set.

 

The Astar is one of the most engineer freindly helicopters I have ever seen.

Have fun and good luck!!

 

 

Totally agree. I find the paper manuals horribly confusing. The disc is the way to go for sure. The Turbomeca disc is a bit of a joke (one giant PDF file), but if you just use the search funtion for key phrases it goes along way.

 

Snap-Off 7mm universal socket with a speed handle for engines, and the allen key socket for the china hat removal are a must along with what the other guys have posted. I personally havent had to grind down any wrenches for access though.

 

I have a rediculously hokey double ended ratcheting wrench from Mastercrap that has 8 and 10 on one side, and 13 and 14 on the other. People laugh but with that and a pair of 6" Knipex, you can **** near take apart the whole machine.

 

The 12 point deeps are an absolute, along with 6,7,8 ratcheting wrenches. Fluke meter that does Hertz with aligator clips is a need too.

 

And Heliian is right, bring a set of standard sockets in 1/4 and your standard wrenches (1/4-3/4 with be enough) for all the STCs. Your 3/4 can also double as your second 19mm for your pitch links. If you have the Snap-On offset wrench set, the 3/8 is the perfect tool to take the front seats out for medivacs.

 

A threaded bolt to pull out the gimble ring studs. Ask your company to buy you some .028 lockwire too. You can leave the .032 and the .025 at home that way if your short on space.

 

Next time a bell guy is busting your balls about french machines, just open up the tranny cowls and climb on up. Engineers dream machine!

 

 

[InspectorGadget]

Oh and these two are awesome too:

 

For the tranny cowls:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P6...amp;dir=catalog

 

For all the panel clips:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P6...amp;dir=catalog

[RedRag]

One of these for servicing the servo accumulators.

 

http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0072/