(…) All the way down to a small metal aircraft fastener retainer. It’s the enemy McCready has come to know so well.The specially designed fastener is used to hold the panels in place on a B-1.
A specially designed retainer keeps the fasteners in place … in theory. But from time to time, those fasteners or retainers break, and they wind up on the ground, just waiting for a passing engine to inhale them.Considering there are 36 B-1s stationed at Dyess, and considering each plane has hundreds of panels forward of the engine intakes, and considering each panel is connected to the fuselage by anywhere from 30 to 160 fasteners, and it quickly becomes apparent just how herculean the task truly is. (…)
