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Small Tools Tray Project

fl-mike

Well Known Member
Saw something similar (but more complicated) posted on the Redstar FB and thought it looked handy, so I designed my own. Might be a common thing, but I never noticed them in use. Literally took 30 minutes to make and I can tell already that I should have made this ten years ago! $6 cafeteria tray off Amazon and about $6 of sch 40 1/2" PVC pipe and fittings. (the pipe insulation I think is repurposed from Vans crate packing)
No more lap, glareshield, seats, and reaching over to pick up stuff off the wing (and risking having it roll off)
Could be modified to compensate for taildragger slope, etc.
I wouldn't put a lot of weight on it, but screwdrivers, wrenches, small tools and fasteners should be fine.

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BTW, I went all plastic because metal has a way of finding my paint. I may put some liner material in the tray to prevent sliding of tools. A work in progress.
 
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Missing an important accessory

And, where is the girl on roller skates that brings you the burger and Root Beer float??
 
Genius idea Mike,,,off to the big box store I go for the materials!
 
I just completed my CI and was grumbling about this exact issue. My tool tray is never where I want it! I bump it, kick it, lay on it......
Now, take your design, develop a foam insert laser cut for all the common tools needed to complete the task of a CI, and you have an FOD product to insure you haven?t left that wrench under your seat pan;

Love your idea.
 
Thanks for sharing, that is a very handy idea. So much so, that I went and made one this weekend.

In the past I had made a diving board by clamping a board to a tool cart and parking it near the airplane. This worked OK, but it was a good bit down the side of the fuselage and was relatively narrow and very easy to knock things off of. Since gravity has yet to be repealed, anything I knock off goes right for the wing. Also, I have to be careful not to hit the flap with the cart. So, while it worked, it was not ideal.

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The only thing I didn't like about the one showed by the OP was the very low lip around the tray. I would still be able to knock things off of there and onto the wing. I wanted something with taller sides to hopefully corral the tools I would be using.

I scoured the aviation department at Lowe's and came away with a common storage box. I would have preferred something slightly shallower, but this will work. The beauty of this design is that you can incorporate anything, well, at least anything that will fit between some PVC poles, as the tool holding surface.

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Thanks again, this will come in most handy as I install my AV-30.
 
Tray

Take this on flights to places with food in mind. It reminds me of trips to A&W Root beer with my folks as a kid. The "waitress" would bring the big frothy mug of root beer out to the car and hang the tray from a partially rolled down window. Dating myself? Great idea by the way.
 
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