The Jesus nut

Do you know this term?  I didn’t.  I encountered it this morning, and have mentally caressed it ever since.  I love it.

The Jesus nut secures the main rotor assembly to a helicopter.  It’s typically pretty massive, as you might imagine.  Here is a photograph of one:

The etymology seems to be that if you lose the Jesus nut, there’s not much left to do except pray to Jesus.  (Many rotary wing malfunctions are probably more survivable than you think, but it’s pretty tough to write a happy ending if you physically lose the main rotor.  That turns an aircraft into a rock.)

The term has become applicable to any simple component whose failure would cause the catastrophic loss of a complex system.  Love it with me.

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3 thoughts on “The Jesus nut”

  1. Of all the vocabulary I picked up while in the Marine Corps (and there was plenty of it, believe you me) I think this was my favorite. The way I learned was that, if the Jesus nut came off, you were going to see Jesus, and soon. Once you learn the meaning, it’s impossible to forget. (It also might be one of my favorites because it is merely blasphemous, as opposed to obscene, or profane, or both.)

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