Sep 18, 2024
The "Jesus nut" is the main rotor nut of a helicopter. If it fails during flight, the rotor detaches, leaving the crew with no option but to pray.
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The "Jesus nut" is the main rotor nut of a helicopter. If it fails during flight, the rotor detaches, leaving the crew with no option but to pray.
You know what, the last post and responses to it (i.e. @heavenseraph's remark on things behind held together by one hinge) reminded me of another curiosity from the aviation folklore.
Meet the Jesus nut.
Officially, this is called a main rotor retaining nut. While its nickname sounds like a bad trip of a tumblr fanfic, it actually performs an incredibly important function in a helicopter: it keeps the entire main rotor assembly together.
Why is it called a Jesus nut? Because if that thing fails in flight, all you can do is pray to Jesus for a miracle.
In April 2000, a Bell 206B-III helicopter took off from Beloeil Airport, Quebec, without the Jesus nut installed, as it was removed for maintenance and not put back in place. Five minutes after take off, the rotor separated from the mast and the helicopter crashed, killing two people. Thankfully, Jesus nut failures are exceptionally rare.
Some sources also claim that the nickname originates in World War 2 and was coined by airmen flying the PBY Catalina flying boats: it had two Jesus bolts holding its wings to a central pylon:
Over time, the term Jesus nut was applied to any one component the failure of which will bring the entire system (e.g. a machine, a computer software etc.) down.
The Jesus nut is the bolt at the top of a helicopter shaft that holds it all together. It got its name because if it were to fail in flight, the only thing left to do would be to pray to Jesus. source
image via wikipedia
For all of my followers, in case you were curious, this is where I spent the majority of my youth. Thank you @berniesanders for creating an all ages venue to allow the youth of Burlington to express themselves artistically, and keep them off the streets. Jesus Nut, one of the Greatest of All Times! However, there were so many more. @gogolbordello Eugene Hütz, I know you remember playing there. BTW, some dude, on an airplane, once tried to buy my pink The Fags T-shirt, right off my back, for $100. I refused. 🤘🏼
The Jesus nut - WTF fun facts