Basic Construction

When a homebuilt aircraft loses a wing in flight, owners of that type of plane sit up and take notice. When the investigation determines that neither a material flaw nor workmanship errors caused the accident, it really catches your attention.

Last month I began the process of removing confusion regarding aircraft hardware—what type hardware you should use and how to use it. This article will continue that discussion. As you may recall, the previous article presented aircraft bolts, nuts, washers, cotter pins, and safety wire.

The quality of our workmanship in building an airplane is very important. We all take the needed time and spend the necessary money to ensure we have a high quality airplane. We want it to not only look attractive, but also to be safe. But what about the materials that hold the airplane together the aircraft hardware?

All builders make them. Some are small and unimportant but others need to be carefully thought out before attempting to make the changes.

Steel rusts. Aluminum corrodes. And yet, you’d be correct in referring to either conditions as "corrosion." Well, so much for the educational stuff… now, let’s look at the problem of protecting steel part from rust.

Your drill can do much more than just drill holes. This makes a good drill as essential to your project as any other tool or piece of equipment you have or may hope to acquire.

When completed, your aircraft will be subjected to many stresses in flight and on the ground; any of which can abnormally affect the integrity of the many assemblies making up your aircraft structure... and your safety.

I guess drilling holes is no big deal. Just about anyone can do that . . . and drill them where they want them to be. Well, most of the time.

More than 15 years ago I wrote a chapter titled "Where and How to Install Nut Plates" for my book "The Sportplane Builder," (it’s the blue one). Since that time I have learned a few more things about installing anchor nuts.

It is natural to assume there is a logical sequence for constructing an airplane. Indeed there is, but such an assumption is only partially correct.