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Changed my tune on using a borescope for every 100-hour inspection after seeing a cracked cylinder baffle everyone else missed
I used to think it was overkill until a mentor in Phoenix showed me a photo from his cheap Teslong scope of a hairline crack behind the #3 cylinder on a Cessna 172 that three other shops had signed off as clean, which convinced me that skipping that five-minute look is just asking for trouble down the line.
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pat_park527mo ago
My old instructor used to call my pre-buy inspections "optical illusions" because I'd miss stuff like that. I finally bought a scope after missing a tiny crack in a Piper's exhaust flange that my eyes just couldn't see from the right angle. It's a humble pie kind of tool for sure.
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christopher676mo ago
My first scope find was a spiderweb crack on a Cessna 172s cylinder base, maybe half an inch long. Totally hidden behind a baffle. @pat_park52 is right, it instantly makes you question every visual inspection you ever did before. Now I feel blind without one for tight spots.
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victor_butler507mo ago
Yeah but sometimes you just get lucky... I've seen guys like @pat_park52 find stuff with a scope that I would've sworn wasn't there. Makes you wonder what else we're all missing on the simple checks.
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