- Joined
- Oct 27, 2013
- Messages
- 124
Well now I thought this was a pretty cool little project. Nonetheless I thought I'd still run it by some of you experts here.
A buddy called me asking for some help with the finer details of re-machining a "bathtub" wing bolt fitting on a Kingair. Actually he asked if I owned the tooling for the job. Just a hobbyist, once I saw the specific and complex tooling, I laughed! More to that story in a while.
There is an inspection requirement every few years to make sure that the bolts (several) which hold the outboard section of wing on, don't wear into these bathtub fittings beyond the limits established by the manufacture. If and when they do, the manufacturer also has engineers to determine if your re-machined fittings are within tolerances, or if they need to be replaced. Replacement requires removal of the wing, then the skin and of course the commensurate down time for the aircraft, until it's all put back together. Something to be avoided if at all possible. Here's a photo of the two fittings. The fittings are riveted to the spars at the 8 connection points. Wing bolts joins them together in a blind tension affair.
A buddy called me asking for some help with the finer details of re-machining a "bathtub" wing bolt fitting on a Kingair. Actually he asked if I owned the tooling for the job. Just a hobbyist, once I saw the specific and complex tooling, I laughed! More to that story in a while.
There is an inspection requirement every few years to make sure that the bolts (several) which hold the outboard section of wing on, don't wear into these bathtub fittings beyond the limits established by the manufacture. If and when they do, the manufacturer also has engineers to determine if your re-machined fittings are within tolerances, or if they need to be replaced. Replacement requires removal of the wing, then the skin and of course the commensurate down time for the aircraft, until it's all put back together. Something to be avoided if at all possible. Here's a photo of the two fittings. The fittings are riveted to the spars at the 8 connection points. Wing bolts joins them together in a blind tension affair.
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