Hi,

I have several planes that have the wings held on with nylon bolts. When I take the wings off for transporting, sometimes I lose the nylon bolts.

I now put a rubber band between the bolts to hold them in the wing until I'm ready to mount the wing, at which time I have to remove the rubber band.

I would like to have the bolts attached to the wing, but still free to screw on the plane, without having to remove the retainer.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Wayne Miller

Wayne, have you tried placing an o'ring over the bolts? Unless the hole it fits thru is rather large it allows free movement of the bolt, but it can't come back out. Sometimes even a short section of fuel tubing will work.

Ed M.

If you don't have o-rings handy, my instructor gave me a tip that works pretty well. Cut a couple of circles, the size of a quarter, from CA hinge material and cut an 'X' in the center. Slip the circles on the bolts and they'll stay put.

I take a piece of material such as c/a hinge material and cut a hole in it slightly smaller than the bolt . Then I apply ca to it and let it dry, then put the bolt thru the wing and screw it thru the material. Most of the time there is enough space between the wing and the block in the fuselage for this to fit. The material fits the bolt tight enough that it will not just fall off but will retain the bolt.
Fred B

Hi,

Both of these are excellent ideas, I'll give them a try. Thanks for your help.

Fly4Fun,

Wayne Miller

never leave the bolts in the wing, screw them into their holes on the fuselage instead. (this may or may not work on all planes, depending if you can easily get the bolts out)

Why?

Yeah; why?

Sorry, but I cannot see any problem with this, other than an extra bit of effort during assembly/disassembly.

Although, the hinge material idea is trick, and falls under the "Why didn't I think of that???" category. I'll give that a try.

The O-ring idea works well; unless your wing fits flush against the blocks, such as on this Four Star 40. Then, you've introduced some positive wing incidence...

Steve,
Actually, if you raise the back of the wing, you introduce more negative incidence.
I have used flat rubber faucet washers on a couple of planes, that had enough space between the wings and mounts. I have also seen one plane that used small steel "E" clips, or "C" clips(similar to external style snap rings). They are thin and will work well also.

<<...if you raise the back of the wing, you introduce more negative incidence...>>

Yup; but what I was talking about LOWERS the back of the wing; i.e., if you introduce O-rings between the wing upper surface and flush-fitting anchor blocks, the TE will no longer fit flush but be lower than it was.

OK, bottom mounted wing. I was thinking shoulder or top wing.

I use O rings on the plastic bolts if I have the right size. If not, a short piece of rubber tubing works well too. Cut it about 1/4 inch wide and thread it onto the bolt. Does the same as an O ring.

Hi Folks,

If you think nylon bolts are a pain try the metal allen bolts.

I saw a tip in a magazine for retaining nylon bolts in wings and it works for my models. Use the plastic clips that hold bread bags closed, they are thin enough not to interfere with wing incidence and the cut out is just the right size for most diameter bolts. I assume that bread is packaged the same way in the USA as in Australia?

Cheers,

Colin