NSN 360 Blog

Airplane lighting systems are a fundamental aspect of aircraft design, ensuring visibility and safety throughout all stages of flight. While they all serve the general purpose of providing illumination, each type of light on an aircraft has a distinct function, ranging in purpose from guiding pilots during takeoff and landing to communicating the aircraft's position to other planes and personnel on the ground. As such, it becomes very important for any aircraft technician, pilot, or airport ground crew personnel to be familiar with common fixtures. In this blog, we will provide a brief overview of each light category, covering their distinct functions and purposes for your benefit.

Maintaining an aircraft engine is one of the most critical aspects of aviation safety and efficiency, ensuring that engines run smoothly, extending their lifespan, and preventing costly repairs. In this blog, we will delve into essential engine maintenance practices that can significantly enhance the performance and reliability of an aircraft.

As an aircraft soars through the skies, its engines play a pivotal role in creating the power and thrust necessary for flight. The fuel filter is an often overlooked yet indispensable component within these powerful engines, allowing for safety to be upheld with their various capabilities. The meticulous design and strategic placement of various fuel filters contribute significantly to the overall performance and longevity of aircraft engines, making it important to understand such components.

Insert nuts are an essential part of fastening systems used in various applications. Whether you are working on DIY projects or tackling more complex tasks, understanding how to use insert nuts can be a valuable skill. In this beginner's guide, we will explore the ins and outs of insert nuts, shedding light on their uses, installation, and benefits.

When it comes to securing threaded fasteners such as bolts or screws, one essential tool in any mechanic's arsenal is thread-locking fluid. Thread-locking fluid is a type of liquid adhesive that helps prevent fasteners from loosening or accidental disassembly due to vibration, shock, or other external factors. In this guide, we will explore the benefits of using thread-locking fluid over other types of adhesives and provide some insights into their various applications.

An airplane cabin window consists of three panes: an outer pane that sits flush with the outside fuselage, an inner pane which has a noticeable small hole in it, and a thinner, non structural plastic pane called a scratch pane. This means that passengers are not able to touch the inner or outer panes, but are able to interact with the scratch pane. While these three panes are all quite different in their roles, they are all made of a material called “stretched acrylic,” a substance that is stronger and more lightweight than glass. More specifically, it provides better resistance to cracking and impact, making it an excellent option for use in aviation.

Temperatures at typical commercial cruising altitude can reach far below freezing in the winter months and generally stay below 60 degrees Fahrenheit on average, even in the summer. As such, in combination with pressurization, aircraft insulation materials are used to help keep the cabin warm. Located in the space between the interior walk and aircraft fuselage, insulation blankets help trap in heat for greater efficiency and comfort. In this article, we discuss why these materials are a mandatory part of commercial aviation.

When working with cabling and wiring, it is often useful to have some sort of sleeve that can organize and/or protect assemblies by keeping them all together. This is often done with a form of tubing, and it is very common to procure specific types that can be treated in a way that causes them to wrap tightly around the objects contained within them. While this is often done through the use of heat shrink tubing that tightens when heat is applied, this is not the only solution available. In various instances, one may utilize what is known as a cold shrink tube.

The choice of which connector to use for operations in need of data and power transfer can be challenging. Of the two basic design choices, rectangular or circular, both offer wide ranges of versatility and many benefits across various applications. Both circular and rectangular connectors can be custom ordered and specified for the number of contacts, contact diameter, shell size, configurations, and more. However, circular connectors boast unique advantages over rectangular connectors for specific applications and environments, those of which we will cover in the following blog.

Airplane tails are designed to stabilize and control the aircraft in upward and downward movements with regard to pitch and side-by-side movements with regard to yaw. They are available in various arrangements in terms of the horizontal and vertical stabilizing surfaces at the rear part of an aircraft. In some contexts, the tail is often referred to as an empennage or stabilizer, with “stabilizer” being the preferred term because it is more aligned with the component’s function.

Whether one is assembling a piece of furniture or a large aircraft, fasteners of various types will be used to join parts together in a temporary or permanent fashion. Rivets are a particular type of mechanical fastener that can serve both light and heavy-duty applications, making them quite versatile. Generally, they can handle tensile and shear loads, and they are known for their simple installation and high reliability. In this blog, we will discuss some of the most common types of rivets that one may come across, ensuring that you are aware of your options and which applications they each best serve.

As a highly relied-upon brand, Gulfstream Aerospace is currently flying high with success in the business of jet manufacturing. Around the world, Gulfstream’s high-performance jets hold consumer appeal for a variety of reasons. There are many factors that contribute to a jet manufacturing company capturing attention on the global market, and this blog will cover five of the major tactics that keep Gulfstream relevant and in-demand.

Air compressors are one of the most commonly used appliances in construction sites, serving as power sources for countless electric tools. There are varying types of air compressors, each of which have their own unique capabilities, advantages, disadvantages, and features. As such, this blog will cover the 4 principle types of air compressors, their uses, and how they work.

A pressure gauge is an instrument used to measure and monitor the pressure of fluids to make sure that the liquid or gas is at the desired pressure limit. When the pressure of a gas or liquid inside an instrument is too high, it can damage equipment or even cause an explosion, so it is vital to monitor pressure. Pressure gauges let off alarms when pressure levels exceed what they should be in order to alert the operator of the equipment. Operating aircraft requires monitoring pressure levels, such as those within the engine group and the flight group, for safe flights. Pressure measurements within aircraft depend on Bourdon tubes, diaphragms, and solid-state sensing devices.

Spoilers are devices located on the wing that reduce, or “spoil,” the lift being produced by aircraft. They can be utilized in a number of ways, both in flight and on the ground. Flight spoilers provide additional drag to aid in slowing aircraft down during flight while ground spoilers are used during landing to help bring the plane to a complete stop. They are available in two primary forms, those of which have been previously described as flight spoilers and ground spoilers. Regardless of their use, spoilers are utilized to disrupt the lift produced by the wing. In fact, they “spoil” lift by popping out into the fastest moving air just above the wing.

Adhesive tape, or PSA tape, consists of a pressure-sensitive adhesive that has been applied to a backing material such as paper, plastic film, cloth, or metal foil. Some tapes are equipped with removable release liners that protect the adhesive until it is going to be used. Meanwhile, other adhesive tapes have additional layers of adhesives, primers, easy release materials, filaments, printing, and more.

Modern aircraft are equipped with either a hydraulic or pneumatic system to control and power certain elements, such as the braking system, alternators, starters, and emergency devices. While hydraulics have predominated the market as of late, there are still many airplanes that implement pneumatic systems. In this blog, we will discuss the function and various components of pneumatic systems in aviation.

Fasteners are important components for any assembly, serving to join parts together with ample security. To ensure that certain fasteners perform well with optimally distributed loads, protection from vibration, equal spacing, and other advantageous characteristics, components known as washers are regularly used. While often simplistic in their design and appearance, washers often make the difference between a rigorous assembly and one destined to fail.