Shop Tip: Organize Assembly Hardware

If you find that you have the need to remove lots of components from your completed aircraft—say taking the control surfaces off for painting—run out and find a compartmented storage container (Harbor Freight usually has these on sale) and make a map of all the hardware that you’re taking off and storing.

Put washers, spacers, and nuts on in their relative positions, and take a picture before you take things apart—hinge points especially will have a specific stack-up of washers that are unique to each plane, and each hinge, so keep them in order! Then store each little assembly in its compartment. This will make reassembly so much easier, and you won’t be duplicating the work you did to figure out the spacing the first time.

Paul Dye
Paul Dyehttps://ironflight.com
Paul Dye retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 50 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the Space Shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 and SubSonex jet that he built, an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife, as well as a Dream Tundra and an electric Xenos motorglider they completed. Currently, they are building an F1 Rocket. A commercially licensed pilot, he has logged over 6000 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an A&P, FAA DAR, EAA Tech Counselor and Flight Advisor; he was formerly a member of the Homebuilder’s Council and is now on the EAA Safety Committee. He is also a member of SETP and consults on flight testing projects.

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Doug D
Doug D
12 days ago

I took this one step further. I have two boxes with labels like you show. One is for the interior of my Glasair, one for the exterior. They are designed specifically for the condition inspection and will hold all of the removed hardware. Of course they get used for other routine maintenance as will.

For non-routine disassembly, I do, of course, repurpose the pre-labeled bins as necessary.

I have made one or two of these for every airplane I have owned and give them to the new owner as part of the sale.