CHAPTER 2
AIRCRAFT HARDWARE AND SEALS
Chapter Objective: Upon completion of this chapter, you will have a working
knowledge of the various types of aircraft hardware and seals used in naval
aircraft and the procedures for maintaining their security.
Because of the small size of most hardware items,
their importance is often overlooked. The safe and
efficient operation of any aircraft is greatly dependent
upon correct selection and use of aircraft structural
hardware and seals. This chapter discusses these
various items. It also provides information that can
aid you in the selection and correct use of aircraft
structural hardware and seals. Aircraft hardware is
discussed in detail in the Structural Hardware
Manual, NAVAIR 01-1A-8.
Aircraft hardware is usually identified by its
specification number or trade name.
Threaded
fasteners and rivets are usually identified by AN (Air
Force-Navy), NAS (national aircraft standard), and
MS (military standard) numbers. Quick-release
fasteners are usually identified by factory trade names
and size designations.
To obtain aircraft hardware from supply, the
specification numbers and the factory part numbers
are changed into stock numbers (NSN). This is done
by using a part number cross-reference index.
important riveting is in the AM rate. A glance at any
aircraft will show the thousands of rivets in the outer
skin alone. Besides the riveted skin, rivets are also
used for joining spar sections, for holding rib sections
in place, for securing fittings to various parts of the
aircraft, and for fastening bracing members and other
parts together. Rivets that are satisfactory for one part
of the aircraft are often unsatisfactory for another
part. Therefore, it is important that you know the
strength and driving properties of the various types of
rivets and how to identify them, as well as how to
drive or install them.
Solid Rivets
Solid rivets are classified by their head shape, by
the material from which they are manufactured, and
by their size. Rivet head shapes and their identifying
code numbers are shown in figure 2-1. The prefix MS
identifies hardware that conforms to written military
standards. The prefix AN identifies specifications
that are developed and issued under the joint authority
of the Air Force and the Navy.
AIRCRAFT STRUCTURAL HARDWARE
Rivet Identification Code
Learning Objective:
Identify the various
types of structural hardware used in the
construction and repair of naval aircraft.
The term aircraft structural hardware refers to
many items used in aircraft construction. You should
be concerned with such hardware as rivets, fasteners,
bolts, nuts, screws, washers, cables, guides, and you
should be familiar with common electrical system
hardware.
RIVETS
This section starts with a discussion of rivets used
in modern aircraft. The fact that there are thousands
of rivets in an airframe is an indication of how
The rivet codes shown in figure 2-1 are sufficient
to identify rivets only by head shape. To be
meaningful and precisely identify a rivet, certain
other information is encoded and added to the basic
code.
Figure 2-1.—Rivet head shapes and code numbers.
2-1
