Screwdriver for preflight?

[Devon]

My flying club has a question on their “LSA transition quiz”. - “why is a screwdriver required for preflight?” Embarrassed to say I’ve preflighted it a dozen times and wondering what I’ve missed.

TIA

[Madhatter]

you got me on that one. I guess if you wanted to take the top cowl off each time but that would sure wear out the fasteners and cowl. I suppose it would be a good defense tool against those who are flying old junky planes and want to take yours away from you. Maybe they are talking about a fuel sampler that has a screwdriver bit in it.

[Anticept]

We don't have it as a policy at the club I am at but it is still extremely useful. Not just for unser the cowling preflights but in general, fasteners love to come loose on everything.

For CTs I would even include m2.5 and m3 hex keys.

[Tom Baker]

The checklist says to remove the top cowling for the first flight of the day, and the screwdriver would make that easier. One thing the comprehensive checklist doesn't tell you to do is put the top cowling back on.

Taking the cowling off like that leads to stress cracks in the paint on the cowling from flexing. Also people will drag the cowling across the windshield leaving scratches.

[Animosity2k]

21 hours ago, Tom Baker said:

The checklist says to remove the top cowling for the first flight of the day, and the screwdriver would make that easier. One thing the comprehensive checklist doesn't tell you to do is put the top cowling back on.

Taking the cowling off like that leads to stress cracks in the paint on the cowling from flexing. Also people will drag the cowling across the windshield leaving scratches.

I've got a handful of flex cracks.