The bolts that hold our wings on.

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

May the force be with you
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I've determined I'm an aviation hypochondriac.

Ever since the EARU arrow incident, I swear I'll be flying along and see my wing wiggle out of the corner of my eye.

I turn to look at it and of course it stops wiggling.

I had some down time. Imagine that. So for grins I decided to open an access panel and get some peace of mind.

I couldn't wait to find a sea of bolts and cotter pins.

2 bolts.

This is my wing spar. There is a bolt in front and one in back. They hold the wing tube to the spar. I don't see any attach points near the LE or TE. In fact their is a gap all the way around the wing by design. Nothing tightly affixing the wing to the body.

I get that it it is engineered and even over engineered but maybe a cotter pin or another couple bolts... Even a bit of safety wire...

This thing is going to be full on flapping out of the corner of my eye now.

I'm fully convinced if I ever designed a plane it would be too heavy to get off the ground.

20180628_102053.jpg
 
At least it’s not plastic!:eek:
 
That bolt looks like it is there to keep the wing from sliding out of the fuselage, I'm doubting it takes any load so I think you are safe, I'd be more concerned about that big crack in the spar...…. just kidding. But since that incident I shake each wing and each elevator to make sure there is no wiggle each time I preflight.
 
PaulS said:
That bolt looks like it is there to keep the wing from sliding out of the fuselage, I'm doubting it takes any load so I think you are safe, I'd be more concerned about that big crack in the spar...…. just kidding. But since that incident I shake each wing and each elevator to make sure there is no wiggle each time I preflight.
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I do too! I kind of checked to make sure no one's watching when I do it. I feel silly doing it. But every flight LOL
 
Going way way way back and from memory I believe that an A325 3/4" bolt will withstand up to 7600lbs of shear force. 1/2" was 5300.

You're plenty safe.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I believe in it
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You shouldn't. It's nothing more than a liberal conspiracy.

Those bolts (I suspect) hold the spar from sliding in and out and from spinning round and round. The main thing that keeps the wings from folding up like the four of diamonds would be the hole that the spar tube sticks into.
 
I think you need a class in mechanical engineering & design for stress.
 
PaulS said:
That bolt looks like it is there to keep the wing from sliding out of the fuselage, I'm doubting it takes any load so I think you are safe, I'd be more concerned about that big crack in the spar...…. just kidding. But since that incident I shake each wing and each elevator to make sure there is no wiggle each time I preflight.
Click to expand...

Doesn't everybody wiggle their wings, ailerons, flaps, horizontal stab, and elevators as part of their pre-flight?? I thought that was just a normal thing. I wiggle about everything that is wiggleable. I'm not aerohypocondriac, but it makes good sense to make sure your shiznit is solidly attached.

Of course many of us 182 drivers rock the doodoo out of our wings to free up any water that may collect in fuel bladder wrinkles anyway.
 
Do Cirrus wings wiggle? What holds them on?
 
OkieFlyer said:
Doesn't everybody wiggle their wings, ailerons, flaps, horizontal stab, and elevators as part of their pre-flight?? I thought that was just a normal thing. I wiggle about everything that is wiggleable. I'm not aerohypocondriac, but it makes good sense to make sure your shiznit is solidly attached.

Of course many of us 182 drivers rock the doodoo out of our wings to free up any water that may collect in fuel bladder wrinkles anyway.
Click to expand...

I wiggle the mandatory items, like ailerons, elevators, rudders, wheel pants, spinners and I used to occasionally give the wings a shake, but now I do it every time, should probably be on the checklist, but I don't think if the manufacturer did that it would inspire confidence.

In reality though, that Embry Riddle wing was probably tight, no wiggle, until it wasn't, something strong enough to lift the airplane probably didn't move until it completely failed.
 
Am I the only one that sees what is missing up in there? Where is the duct tape?
 
OkieFlyer said:
Doesn't everybody wiggle their wings, ailerons, flaps, horizontal stab, and elevators as part of their pre-flight?? I thought that was just a normal thing. I wiggle about everything that is wiggleable. I'm not aerohypocondriac, but it makes good sense to make sure your shiznit is solidly attached.

Of course many of us 182 drivers rock the doodoo out of our wings to free up any water that may collect in fuel bladder wrinkles anyway.
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You didn't wiggle the cowl flaps now didja? (Too soon)?
 
Forget the bolt, you’ve got intergranular corrosion all over the spar. Replace ASAP!
 
PaulS said:
In reality though, that Embry Riddle wing was probably tight, no wiggle, until it wasn't, something strong enough to lift the airplane probably didn't move until it completely failed.
Click to expand...
true, but there was a video out there of a wiggling Arrow wing, and then a follow-up video I posted that showed which holes had been opened up from wear

asicer said:
Do Cirrus wings wiggle? What holds them on?
Click to expand...
it is a solid one-piece carbon fiber structure. The fuselage sits on top of it so to speak. Compared to metal wings there's a fair amount of flex in it if you wiggle it from the tip
 
Actually those bolts need to be inspected I think every 500hrs. From what I remember on my Cheetah the inspection made you change the bolts with new ones. There is much debate as to the interpretation of the AD for those bolts. Refer to the Grumman Gang to muddy the waters further....
 
USAF JD said:
Actually those bolts need to be inspected I think every 500hrs. From what I remember on my Cheetah the inspection made you change the bolts with new ones. There is much debate as to the interpretation of the AD for those bolts. Refer to the Grumman Gang to muddy the waters further....
Click to expand...

I believe they have to be replaced once and then inspected every 100 hours.
 
I've seen (removed and installed new) the two bolts that hold a Cessna 182 wing on, okay four if you count the strut. That's why I'd rather fly my Cherokee.
 
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SixPapaCharlie said:
I've determined I'm an aviation hypochondriac.

Ever since the EARU arrow incident, I swear I'll be flying along and see my wing wiggle out of the corner of my eye.

I turn to look at it and of course it stops wiggling.

I had some down time. Imagine that. So for grins I decided to open an access panel and get some peace of mind.

I couldn't wait to find a sea of bolts and cotter pins.

2 bolts.

This is my wing spar. There is a bolt in front and one in back. They hold the wing tube to the spar. I don't see any attach points near the LE or TE. In fact their is a gap all the way around the wing by design. Nothing tightly affixing the wing to the body.

I get that it it is engineered and even over engineered but maybe a cotter pin or another couple bolts... Even a bit of safety wire...

This thing is going to be full on flapping out of the corner of my eye now.

I'm fully convinced if I ever designed a plane it would be too heavy to get off the ground.

View attachment 64465
Click to expand...

At least you don’t have to worry about it on your Cirrus. That is a single carry through spar and beefy as hell. No in flight failures in the 7000+ Cirrus fleet and millions of fleet hours.

Here is a nice short video of a wing replacement on an SR22
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1746785048731161
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I've determined I'm an aviation hypochondriac.

Ever since the EARU arrow incident, I swear I'll be flying along and see my wing wiggle out of the corner of my eye.

I turn to look at it and of course it stops wiggling.

I had some down time. Imagine that. So for grins I decided to open an access panel and get some peace of mind.

I couldn't wait to find a sea of bolts and cotter pins.

2 bolts.

This is my wing spar. There is a bolt in front and one in back. They hold the wing tube to the spar. I don't see any attach points near the LE or TE. In fact their is a gap all the way around the wing by design. Nothing tightly affixing the wing to the body.

I get that it it is engineered and even over engineered but maybe a cotter pin or another couple bolts... Even a bit of safety wire...

This thing is going to be full on flapping out of the corner of my eye now.

I'm fully convinced if I ever designed a plane it would be too heavy to get off the ground.

View attachment 64465
Click to expand...

You need to take a ride in B-787. You won’t even notice your wings flapping after that
 
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