NSN Supplies Blog

When building or maintaining an aircraft, it is always extremely important to be knowledgeable about the various components that make up the assembly. With good understanding of what different parts are and their functions, the better one can ensure that the parts that are in the aircraft are of utmost quality and are installed correctly to maintain optimal performance and safety. In this blog, we will give a short overview of a few common components that are used in many different aircraft assemblies.

If you’ve ever looked upwards toward the night sky, you’ve likely witnessed an airplane’s journey. Even on the darkest of nights or on the cloudiest of days, the aircraft lights on an airplane will still manage to shine through, making the entire aircraft’s journeying visible to onlookers below. Most people never really think about what the lights mean, or how they are coordinated, but like with most things, there is an important rule for each and every light that is placed on an aircraft.

Fasteners are critical components in almost every mechanical application imaginable, serving to create solid but nonpermanent connections between different objects. Featuring an external threading on their shaft, and a head that is used to tighten the screw as it is driven between the two materials being joined together. Most types of screws do not use a washing nut or washer to attach objects together, and instead rely on the action of driving the screw through both objects to create a mechanical joint strong enough to hold them together. Some, however, are designed to mate with matching threaded components.

Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), are an incredibly versatile piece of technology in aviation industry. Their applications, both professionally and recreationally, are abundant. Aside from casual hobby use, they can be used in agriculture, architecture and construction, delivery, engineering, and many other fields. One way you might not expect to see drones used is in warehouses, where they assist with inventory management, turnover, and navigation.

Safety standards are a key factor of the aerospace and defense industries. In order for an aircraft to be airworthy, all the individual aviation components need to be manufactured to an exacting standard. Due to the adverse and often hostile conditions found on aircraft, components need to be able to withstand high pressure, corrosion, and extreme fluctuations in temperature. The military has its own set of standards known as MIL. Spec, which set out the performance requirements of a component. In order to do business with the military, your part must be MIL.spec certified. In addition to helping set the safety standards, MIL.Spec also helps to standardize the manufacturing of components.