EAA Chapter Tool Crib Program

Goal: Encourage EAA Chapters to improve their support of members building and maintaining aircraft.

Summary: Summary: EAA will match 30% of qualified tool purchases up to $300 per chapter per year until the $30,000 grant is exhausted.

It is common as an aircraft builder to need a tool for a specific operation that is simply too expensive to justify purchasing for a few uses. A great example of this is the Nicopress tool needed for swaging control cables. This tool makes the job infinitely easier and provides a much higher quality than other options. And yet, Nicopress tools typically cost around $300 and are only needed a couple of times on an aircraft.

This is where an EAA Chapter can provide help by having a shared tool program. In order to encourage chapters to establish or expand their tool offerings, EAA members Ray and Penny Bowman and the Burgher Fund have donated $30,000 to establish this matching tool fund.

The philosophy behind our list of tools that qualify for reimbursement is:

1. Only needed occasionally during a build or for maintenance
2. Expensive to purchase
3. Correct tool for a quality outcome

Requirements for reimbursement:

• Tool is purchased by the chapter after 7/22/2019 and owned by EAA Chapter
• Purchase tool from a recognized vendor (Aircraft Spruce, Cleveland Tools, Mittler Brothers, etc); no purchases from individuals are eligible.
• Tool is on the Eligible Tool List
• Complete the application form
• Complete the Customer Authorization Form for ACH or Wire Payment [PDF] (All funds will be transferred via ACH directly; if you already have an ACH form on file, you can skip this step).
• Complete a chapter W9 form [PDF]

Downloadable resources: