Anchor nuts are captive nuts that do not require an ordinary hex nut to tighten an aircraft bolt. They are used when it is nearly impossible to work on the backside of a piece you are bolting. When certain part installation makes hex nut usage unattainable, anchor nuts are the go-to alternative to bolting a piece together from one side only. It is not unusual for a typical all-metal homebuilt aircraft to have more than two to three hundred anchor nuts installed to reach assembly completion.

Why do some aircraft feature a small vertical section at the tip of their wings? Well, those upturned tips are called winglets, additions to the wing that are designed to prevent vortices from forming. In this blog, we’ll explore what winglets are, and why they are so important.

A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft that achieves flight by using wings to produce lift. They are called “fixed-wing” because their wings are stationary, as opposed to rotary-wing aircraft, which generate lift by rapidly spinning rotors or blades. To work properly, the wings of an aircraft have to attach to a structure. In the case of fixed-wing aircraft, the aircraft wings are attached to the body of the aircraft, known as the fuselage. There are three types of fixed-wing aircraft fuselage structures: Truss, Monocoque, and Semimonocoque.

As with any part that is to be installed on an aircraft, it must meet some type of FAA qualification to be legally installed on aircraft and considered airworthy. An important certification of compliance regarding aviation parts is being approved as a “Standard Part”. Standard parts are components and materials that conform to an established industry or US government published specification. This can mean they meet specifications such military standard, aviation standard, or nas standards, and the qualification and approval of these articles is given by the FAA.

Like all powered aircraft, helicopters operate on the principles of lift and thrust. Lift is the force that pushes the aircraft up into the sky, and thrust is the force that propels the aircraft forward. In a fixed wing aircraft, like a conventional passenger jet, lift is provided by the wings, and thrust is provided by the engines. In a helicopter however, both lift and thrust are generated by the helicopter’s main rotor.