Jeff Shapiro <<up.si.down>>
writes:

Recently, a Covert harness owner sent me a photo showing excessive
wear on the bolt that connected the main riser of his harness (at the tang) to
the back plate. He had replaced his bolt with a non stock, titanium bolt, not
provided by Wills Wing. Also, it had been tightened to the point where the bolt
was not allowed to spin in the assembly, causing the tang to rotate on a static
bolt during the process of launching and landing. This friction caused the
excessive wear, weakening his system.

This has prompted me to send this email to all Covert owners and/or dealers.
Please, either check your own harness or notify your customers of this routine
maintenance and basic inspection that must take place (as with any of your
flying related gear) to maintain safe equipment, as described below.

NAS 623-4-18 bolt that is provided with your (or your customer's) Covert should
never be exchanged with anything other than this exact bolt. It was specifically
chosen to be used for its purpose on the Covert harness. To use anything else is
causing the potential for premature wear and/or failure. If there is wear and/or
this bolt ever needs to be replaced, it can be ordered directly from Wills Wing
through your WW dealer. It should last the life of your (customer's) harness but
a routine inspection of this bolt should be performed after each 50 hours of
use.

This inspection can be done by simply unzipping the flap which covers your
Covert back plate and looking at the bolt and nut assembly. Each 50 hours of
use, remove the nut and carefully pull the bolt out to visually inspect it for
wear on it's stem.

During this routine inspection, and after re-installation of the nut, it should
be insured that the provided Nylock nut, which secures the bolt (holding the
main riser tang), is tightened to the point where there are threads showing (Nylock
nut is fully engaged onto the bolt) but that the bolt is still allowed to spin
freely in the assembly. This reduces the wear at the tang-bolt interface by
allowing the bolt to rotate with the tang during the process of going prone and
getting upright.

Again, the hardware on the Covert was specifically chosen for its properties and
should never be replaced with anything other than exactly the same part. Any
part provided on the Covert can be ordered from Wills Wing through your WW
dealer. Any questions, PLEASE don't hesitate to ask. I'm here to help you with
anything Wills Wing Covert related.