b'Some of the most critical parts found in anairplane are also the smallest and most abundant.By Kip HansonR ivets arent sexy like jet engines and flight control systems, but that doesnt make rivets less important to the well-be-ing of an aircraft. For example, a Boeing 747 has nearly 1.5 million such fasteners, all of which contribute to structural integrity.Some newer planes, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, re-quire far fewer rivets and screws due to enhanced use of light-weight composite materials. Nonetheless, each fastener must be held firmly in place for an aircraft to be deemed flightwor-thy. Even a spacecraft, which is expected to endure the extreme speeds and temperatures of interplanetary travel, is fastened to-gether with rivets not all that different from those found on a fish-ing boat or recreational vehicle.Give a HandA large percentage of these fasteners still are installed man-ually.26MAY 2020Countersinking.indd 26 4/16/20 4:58 PM'