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Worst shift of my life happened Tuesday when a pitot heater shorted on the ramp in Wichita
I've been doing avionics for 9 years and Tuesday was the roughest day I can remember. We had a regional jet parked outside in Wichita and the temp hit 12 degrees with wind. I got called out because the pitot heat breaker kept popping on the FO side. Spent 3 hours in the cold chasing a short through the wing root, and of course the wiring harness was bundled with about 40 other wires so I had to trace every single one by hand. My multimeter leads got so stiff they wouldn't stay in the pins. Turns out a chafe point near a clamp had rubbed through the insulation and it was grounding to the airframe. I fixed it with a splice and some new loom, ran a continuity check, and it passed, but I was so cold I could barely sign off the logbook. Does anyone have a trick for keeping your hands working when you're stuck outside in single digit temps? I'm seriously thinking about buying heated gloves but I don't know if they mess with your grip on the safety wire.
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