Fasteners, Adhesives & Sealants — Feature

Abstract

Fasteners, adhesives and sealants are as important to aerospace production as the most sophisticated advances in engine design. Without the correct nuts and bolts, no aircraft can function, or certainly not for long, efficiently and safely. Even the man in the street — as well as his wife and children — was made dramatically aware of this after the Amsterdam air crash last year when numerous daily newspapers clearly explained the function of sheer pins and showed, in large, simplified drawings, how they are used to attach the engines to the wings of the Boeing 747. But even though the proverbial “Man on the Clapham Omnibus” and his schoolboy son know the importance of fasteners in aircraft manufacture and maintenance, the industry itself does not appear to hold them in the same high esteem. Fasteners, it seems, are like discreet waiters in a decent restaurant: you don't notice them until they're missing. In order to compile this feature, we wrote to all known manufacturers and suppliers of fasteners, adhesives and sealants seeking information on products and their applications. Despite the opportunity for publicity, the response was negligible. The subsequent telephoning of non‐respondents (which was most of them) was only marginally more productive. The interesting thing was the air of indifference shown. Many of the companies bluntly said they were not interested — not even in free publicity. One firm even said that it did not need publicity, it never had and it never would. Such self‐sufficiency, though admirable, is hardly indicative of a dynamic, developing company and typified an attitude of many companies in this sector which seemed to spring from a general lack of interest — or pride, perhaps — in what they are doing. At the suggestion of our editor, I contacted the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) to obtain figures on the quantities and the value of fasteners produced and sold by their member companies. Here, at least, I thought, would be the basis of an article. But here I was wrong. The SBAC does not compile such figures. It is clear from all this that suppliers to the aerospace industry do not take fasteners as seriously as “The Man on the Clapham Omnibus” does. It is equally clear that the companies mentioned on this and the following pages consider fasteners, adhesives and sealants to be very important.

Citation

Absalom, P. (1993), "Fasteners, Adhesives & Sealants — Feature", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 65 No. 2, pp. 18-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb037344