Taper Pin Washers: Everything You Need to Know

Washers come in a wide range of styles. In addition to traditional flat washers, for instance, there are cupped washers. Cupped washers are designed to compress and flatten when a bolt is tightened against them, allowing them to exert a … Read More

Why Weight Is a Critical Factor When Choosing Aircraft Fasteners

Weight is an important factor to consider when choosing aircraft fasteners. A typical airplane has anywhere from 1 million to 3 million fasteners. Common types of aircraft fasteners include bolts, screws, nuts, washers, rivets, pins and clips. While they are … Read More

The Beginner’s Guide to Lacing Cord

A typical medium-sized airplane has over 100 miles of cables and wires. Larger airplanes, of course, have even more wires and cables. Rather than allowing them to clutter spaces in tunnels and behind access panels, engineers typically use a management … Read More

Top 5 Benefits of Lock Bolts

Modern airplanes are constructed with more than just nuts and bolts. In addition to traditional fasteners such as these, they often feature lock bolts. Lock bolts are two-piece fasteners consisting of a pin and collar. The pin is a bolt-like … Read More

How to Remove a Stuck Nut From a Bolt

Are you struggling to remove a nut that’s stuck on a bolt? Nuts and bolts are two of the world’s most commonly used fasteners. You can find them in furniture, machinery, building materials, automobiles, aircraft and more. Nuts and bolts … Read More

Quarter-Turn Fasteners vs Traditional Threaded Fasteners

When most people think of fasteners used in the aerospace industry, they envision traditional fasteners. Modern airplanes, however, are manufactured using a variety of fasteners. In addition to traditional threaded fasteners like screws and bolts, many airplanes now feature quarter-turn … Read More

Common Head Styles for Airframe Bolts

You can ignore the head style when shopping for airframe bolts. Most airplanes use thousands or even hundreds of thousands of bolts in their construction. Along with rivets, airframe bolts are one of the most common. They are designed to … Read More

What Is a Toggle Switch Guard?

Toggle switches are commonly found in aircraft cockpits. They typically feature an ON-OFF position that, as the name suggests, can be toggled. Fuel pumps, navigation lights, beacon lights and various avionics, for instance, are often controlled with a toggle switch. … Read More

Twist-On vs Crimp-Style Wire Nuts: What’s the Difference?

Wire nuts offer an easy and effective way to connect two or more wires. Also known as wire caps, they consist of a cylindrical hollow tube that’s open on one end. After stripping insulation off the wires, you can place … Read More