This bolt is worth $8000 and goes in a helicopter

    by HiAustralia

    45 Comments

    1. Twister_Robotics on

      Now, what does it do? What part of the helicopter does it go in? What does it hold together?

    2. Excellent_Regret4141 on

      ![gif](giphy|eloU0Wd9iltgk|downsized)

      You did it, thanks for taking the bolt off my helicopter op

    3. Well… aircraft stuff 🤷‍♂️. I used to work in an aircraft engine workshop and there were some little carbon bushings (like, 16mm diameter for 16 mm depth ) that cost 400$. Or a compressor casing that was 300k. Yes, just the casing, not the rotor compressor itself.

    4. PuzzleheadedTea4221 on

      I was working a project back in the early 2000s. They were building some Peak operation units. They were Natural Gas units that could be cranked up when the need was great. And shut back down when they didn’t need them. One of my best friends on the job wound up getting the raise they had asked for when they couldn’t find the bolts to hold the turbine to the pad. This is a pallet of very large bolts that were strapped together and Shrink wrapped. They thought they were going to have to order more. And at the last moment my friend was able to locate the bolts.

    5. I assume the cost comes from the R&D and endless safety testing and certifications that had to be done before it could be sold and put into an actual aircraft. Manufacturing cost per unit at this point is probably very little

    6. Is that the “jesus bolt/nut”?

      I’ve seen few comments from, allegedly, helicopter pìlots and mechanics and apparently that is a common name for the bolt and nut that attaches the entire blades to the rotor.

    7. Step 1 3D print

      Step 2 crash

      Step 3 you saved a lot of money

      Step 4 dead but with 8k to pay for the funeral

      ![gif](giphy|5DCLZUqb0ImZy)

    8. The bolt itself isn’t the expensive part, it’s the certification to be allowed to install it.

      Everything in aviation is expensive because of this even if the production doesn’t cost more

    9. Whenni had started to work as an adult, i had worked at a company that manufactures bolts and screws for aviation.

      90% was for Airbus Planes. In the remaining 10% bolts like these had been made.

      Personally never involved in manufacturing them, but saw thr hush around them. Each 100% checked wirh all sorts of nondestructive tests and such, handled with care (the worker who grabbed them had to wear cotton gloves at one point due the oil of the skin, could stick to them and made nexts step not legal)

      So yeah the price is high, but justified. Cause if one of these bolt break mid using…

    10. This is from a AS350, maybe B3?

      You have 6 like this in the starflex/arms system 🙂

      Also you are supposed to reaply the missing compound on the fritted parts. Molykote baked in an oven or some acid, dont recall now.

    11. computerCoptor on

      Does this connect the main rotor head scissors to the bridge/swashplate? I used to work on MH-60R’s a few years ago and this looks really familiar.

      And of course, the bolt head will be safety wired to a bracket that’s been screwed down and hysol’ed to the frame and the nut will be torqued to an obscene foot poundage and cotter keyed.

      Extra everything for helicopters lol

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