If you are building an airplane, and are far enough along that you are installing nuts and bolts, you have probably already discovered that nothing is permanent until you are ready to put fuel in the tanks and go fly (and even then … ). You are going to put things together and take them apart many, many times before you’re ready for an airworthiness inspection. Using your good kit-supplied AN hardware to do this will cause considerable wear and tear to the cadmium plating, and many of us use temporary hardware during the building phase as a result.
I have drawers of #10-32 nuts and bolts from the hardware store for this task (they substitute for AN3), and the plain nuts are much quicker to install and remove than a lock nut—but how do you make sure that when you are ready to fly, you have used nothing but aircraft-quality material in your final assembly? Simple—flag it or paint it! I keep a roll of brightly colored survey tape at the top of my toolbox for just this reason—if I use a temporary nut, I stick a piece of flagging tape on it. You can also go to an office supply place and buy red tags with strings on them—same result. Another way is that when you buy a box of temporary nuts, spread them out on a piece of cardboard and give them a shot of fluorescent orange spray paint—yes, it will chip off, but enough usually remains to make the nuts stand out.
Whatever method you use, keep your AN hardware in good shape and don’t be afraid to use temporary stuff for “rough” assembly—but make sure to leave yourself a trail of bright colors to guide you down the path toward airworthiness.
great idea! I also have notes (written with a sharpie) on or near aluminum parts that still need a finishing step that I might otherwise forget about.
I LOVE this. In finishing the build on a second or third-hand project, these kinds of “nuggets” are SO appropriated. So, Thank You, Paul!
One of those stunningly brilliant ideas I wish I had thought of. (See. the number of AN365’s I went through in my build, in the “How Much Will This Kit Cost?” commentary.
Have yet to see a tip from Paul that I couldn’t put to use. Thanks for sharing your wide expertise, Paul
I use red nail polish on the heads of bolts and around the nut. I then keep them in a separate jar for reuse in another area when I replace with the permanent hardware.