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skybolt fasteners
- Thread starter dspender
- Start date
...and so do SkyBolt 1/4 turn fasteners.
Until the hinge ears start to crack and the hinge needs replacement.
Well, I think that depends on the care taken during installation, 2300 hrs and counting without a single hinge issue.
Having dealt with missng/loose/lost skybolts I love my hinge pins, not to mention I can have my cowls on/off in half the time.
Another benefit, hinges cost almost nothing (which most pilots should appreciate)!
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Bought Skybolt kits for my 7 and 8. The Skybolt site has many options for most RVs. I used hinges on the cowl split line and the firewall sides for the lower cowl. Skybolts on the top cowl at the firewall and on the bottom of the lower cowl. Best of both worlds for me. Doing the same on the 10 I am working on. Never had a loose/missing/lost Skybolt in 13 years and 1300hrs of RV fun.
I bought a full Skybolt set but haven't done all the research yet for the tools needed. Is there a functional difference between these Camloc pliers and the Skybolt branded ones? (SK-4P3)
That's the tool. You also need the tool for install and removal of the stud c-clips. https://store.skybolt.com/mobile/sk-t26-p690.aspxI bought a full Skybolt set but haven't done all the research yet for the tools needed. Is there a functional difference between these Camloc pliers and the Skybolt branded ones? (SK-4P3)
There is an adjustment clip tool, but a right angle sharp pick works just fine. It's used to release the locking clip on the receptacle to adjust the threaded lock inside.
Tip...
When you get your Skybolts, lube those threaded inserts and screw them out and back in. When the make them, they leave shards of aluminum in the threads. I had more than one jam. A little boelube eliminates the problem.
1600 hours on my hinges. No wear and nothing broken. I think a lot.of folks don’t get the alignment right and this adds stress to the hinges and cause problems. I did use screws on the top cowl at firewall, as i dont like shoving my arm in the oil doors. With a power drill them come out just as fast and don’t have to do the alignment dance to get the cowl on compared to the skybolts
I looked at a lot of cowls during various fly-ins, and decided to use the flathead, not the phillips camlocs. I have a flat head screwdriver that fits perfectly, with no slipping. I saw many cowls with phillips and boogered up heads. I'm sure that they could have also used the right phillips head screwdriver, but didn't, for some reason. I also echo the guys that recommended getting a few spares.
Thought about this one a bit before I decided to go with hinges. Fixnflyguy also has a ton of hours on his hinged cowl. Thinking it over, it would be very easy to have misalignment -> unequal loading -> subsequent broken ears. Challenge accepted. To hopefully increase my chances of long term success, I tried something a little different; maybe, hard to be truly original amongst the plethora of experience here. With the mating halves pinned together (one side riveted, the other only cleo'd) I let the cleo'd hinge side "float" on adhesive until it set. Riveted afterward. In theory, it would keep the load evened out. The pins go in very smoothly. Time will tell if I was clever or kidding myself yet again.
That is what I did based upon a recommendation here. It prevents the rivet setting from making little waves in the hinge, in theory. It allows the hinge to be very straight.
We’ve got all possible combinations of hinges, machine screws, and Skybolts on our three flying RV’s (and the under-construction Rocket). All methods have pluses and minuses, and I can get the cowls off any of the airplanes in about five minutes - and back on in the same amount of time. I blew and swear at all the fasteners at one time or another. I’m going “all Skybolt” on the Rocket as an experiment becasue I don’t;t want to try having no non-captive fasteners for a change - I always have to find a place to put screws and/or hinge pins when taking cowls off. Not a big deal - just a tiny, minuscule nuisance if the cowl is staying of for long-term maintenance, and you don’t want to mis-place the right hinge pins….
When you drill holes for the studs, it helps to drill them slightly under. Seems like 15/32". The grommets fit tight and don't fall out if a clip falls off
When I first started in this business, we were issued a tool called a "Snoopy Key" that was designed specifically for the flat head Dzus fasteners. Then a few years later we switched to mostly Cam-Loc with Phillips head fasteners because the straight-slots were getting augered out too fast. I think either style will work great if you use the correct tool and take care. But, having "captive" fasteners (vs screws and plate-nuts) is definitely the way to go, as long as you maintain them. I've seen more than one cowling out there with Cam-locs not retained with the proper star washer. They fall out and become a FOD hazard.
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can someone supply a link to the RV kits at skybolt? I go to the website and I don't see any options for RV kits.
thx Mikeyb
