Tonight I finished safety wiring the prop attach bolts. I had previously wired two of the 6 bolts, but had left the others so I could move on with other tasks. At the time I was working towards a deadline – moving the fuselage to the airport – and didn’t want to spend more time on the task. The first two bolts had been a real pain, and I had redone the wiring several times before I was satisfied that it didn’t suck too badly.
For the remaining four bolts, I started by practicing with the thinnest safety wire I have, which is much easier to work with. After figuring out the routing, the length required, and any other relevant details, I switched to the large diameter wire and completed the task. The bolts are wired in pairs, and each bolt has a hole through the center where the wire passes. Because of the varied orientation of the bolts, each one presents a unique challenge in getting the wire through the hole. I was lucky that only one bolt needed loosening and reorienting, and I was able to get all the others to work without adjustment.
In the end I was quite happy with how it turned out, and found that a little practice and lots of patience definitely helps.
