Keeping in line with the ... exciting elevator post from last night, I'm going to talk today about fasteners.
I spotted these on the wing of the Airbus A319 which was flying us from Tucson to Denver on Friday. They're tri-bladed screw things, and I've got no idea why they're used there.
This page contains a single entry by milkman published on September 11, 2006 9:11 PM.
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That is so messed up. They look like they are the screw attachments for some serviceable piece in the wing, but there doesn't look like there's anything to open. Plus they're painted over. Mystery!
So, the more I think about it, the more I'm guessing that they're big permanent screws used in a spot where rivets simply won't work and where conventional screws would leave too large of a head gash in the wing.
I'm sure they're holding somehting together on the other side of that here what'cha ma call it.
so the actual name for those things is something like: "oneway slotted head countersunk finishing washer"
then again.. they could be caps of the back side of some weld... like maybe they put that thing there and then tack the other side and because its thin aluminum the weld tends to go though to the added material on the other side.
I'm going to stop thinking about it now.