5.5 Million Rivets!

Is I mentioned in my last blog, Danny Faupel (AMT associate publisher) and I were in Friedrichshafen, Germany last week attending the AERO 2007 general aviation trade show. I am now back in Wisconsin and have re-adjusted to central standard time. The show was definitely a success. With more than 45,000 attendees walking around, the exhibitors had plenty of customers to talk to. And with attendees from 40 different countries, it was truly an international trade show. As I hinted to last week, I did get a chance to visit the Zeppelin museum there in Friedrichshafen. It was well worth the visit! Although there weren't any Jimmy Paige guitars on display, there was definitely plenty to see. There were sections of airships re-constructed to give visitors an idea of how it was to travel by airship. There was even a Daihmler V-16 engine on display that produced a whopping 1,006 hp. One of the things that stood out as I walked around with the goofy "I'm a tourist" audio guide held to my ear like an oversized cell phone was the part of the tour that discussed the construction of the ships. You see, all of the framework was constructed of aluminum alloy channels, and all of it was riveted by hand. The museum had a display of the many different rivet squeezers that were used to assemble the frame. The audio guide mentioned that there were more than 5.5 million rivets installed on the average zeppelin. At supper that evening, I thought about that number. 5.5 million rivets. That is a lot. I pulled out my cell phone and used the calculator tool to punch a few numbers. If a mechanic was able to drill, deburr and install one rivet every 10 seconds without taking a break or a lunch, in an eight-hour day he or she could install 2,880 rivets. Working seven days a week with no holidays, vacation, or sick time, the mechanic would complete the framework in around 1,909 days. So, in roughly 5.2 years, all the riveting would be done. Then it would be time to go back to the starting point and begin treating the corrosion. To put it in perspective, the Boeing 747-400 LCF Large Cargo Freighter is held together by roughly 850,000 rivets. Thanks for reading! Joe