That time I tried a digital level instead of a spirit level on a G650 panel

I was working on a Gulfstream 650 overhead panel in Savannah about a month ago. My old Stabila level kept slipping off the curved surfaces so I grabbed a digital level I found in the shop. It said everything was dead flat, but when I mounted the panel it was off by almost 1/8th of an inch. Turns out the digital level needed calibration after being dropped. I learned to always double check digital tools against a known straight edge first. Has anyone else had a precision tool lie to them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyw1214d agoTop Commenter

Built a deck once where my laser level was off by a quarter inch over 12 feet.

stone.evan13d ago

That 1/8 inch on a G650 panel is basically the same thing I see at the grocery store when the self-checkout scale reads the wrong weight, we trust the digital readout way too fast just because it's on a screen.