Wrathall Mark wrote:

I was looking at the picture on the Wiggins clamp, and have worked with
these on Boeing airconditioning packs. They sure are easy to use.

The line in the blurb, " Safety locking feature eliminates safety wire" is
interesting. There has been a lot of investment in aviation into avoiding
lock wire. This is one of the simplest skills to learn. The problem has
never been the need to lock wire fasteners, the problem was always the need
to lockwire a fastener that you can either see with a mirror, or just touch
with the third finger on you left hand (assuming Mike Tysons reach). If the
poor engineer who gets to design  the final installation (normally the new
guy?!) screws up the access, then even a spring fingers wiggins coupling in
the picture is a bitch to install.

The ablity to still wobble the tubes around while trying to get the last
coupling on can be a godsend.

If you forget the complexity of the spring fingers locking device, and the
opposing hinge, this could be easily made on a non NC lathe. The way Pauls
one is designed you could throw two hose clamps around it.

Paul, when you modify your next pump, why not machine the outlet tube, with
the wiggins coupling flange on it, as one peice. If you have to machine the
flange anyway and weld/glue/swage it on, it would be easier just to make it
one peice. (unless you have an nc lathe producing the flanges on mass)

Mark Wrathall

The big problem is Mark I would have more money in wiggins couplings than
I would have in the whole engine. Until we find someone to knock out
a couple of hundred of these things on an NC lathe at the right price I will 
probably use hose barbs and spring clamps in the meantime. I would say a 
minimum of four would be needed per airplane.

Paul Lamar
 
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