On 30-Mar-2005, (Jay Masino) wrote:

This doesn't make sense, to me. The "bulb" part of the seal squeezes into
the crack between the body and the wing. That's what holds it in
place. It wouldn't stay in place, when the wing was detached from the
body.


I have no specific knowledge of how they do it at the factory, but I find it
hard to believe that they don't position the rubber seal before attaching
the wing. Any number of low-tack adhesives could be used to keep the seal
in place before mating.

That doesn't mean that the airplane is not designed to allow the seal to be
replaced (with much greater difficulty) without removing the wing.

I am sure that there are any number of such cases in the manufacture of
cars. For example, the exhaust manifold is most likely installed on a car's
engine before the engine is installed on the assembly line. But I would
hope that your mechanic can remove and replace the manifold without taking
the engine out of your car.

--
-Elliott Drucker