By Rodney Lynn <admin@coffsccs.nsw.edu.au>

Flying a microlight aircraft is somewhat of a love affair between pilot and aircraft.  Certain matters must be carefully managed, particularly matters of the heart bolt.

Thousands of songs have been composed about broken hearts and the heartbeats of love. Crooners moan over their damaged feelings and their loneliness of heart because of a long lost lover. 

Their lyric writers join rhymes with music to lament about things like:
"Your cheating heart will pine some day..."
"My heart is aching, but what care I?..."
"Well, I've got heartaches by the number, troubles by the score..."

And so, they produce the stories of love and heartbreak.

But they have nothing to compare with the heartache of the microlight pilot, who may have troubles with his heart bolt whilst in flight.  This poor soul will have his heart in his mouth and not much time left to rectify the situation, if the heart bolt should fail.
Fortunately, the heart bolt on a microlight takes a lot more to break than a set of infatuated feelings or romantic notions.  The heart bolt is the essential connection of the microlight base to the wing above.  It is the bolt that attaches the microlight mast to the universal junction on the keel of the wing.
My first introduction to this tough little object, essential for the safety and well being of both body and soul for microlight pilots, was at that unforgettable initial Trial Instructional Flight all would-be pilots undertake as they enter the portals of aviation.
The instructor and I were walking around the aircraft.  My eyes and ears were wide open, drinking in all the new information and sensations associated with learning about a machine that would be carrying me to places in the sky I had never visited before.  Then there was a pause.
The instructor pointed to a bolt high up at the top of the mast, where the microlight base connected to the wing.  He said, "See that bolt, that's called the heart bolt. It is called the heart bolt because, if it breaks, you will have your heart in your mouth and you will feel it pumping like you have never thought it could ever pump.  That bolt is what your life hangs on."
Sincerely, I have seen plenty of bolts before.  But this bolt now had my full attention.  As the instructor continued his explanation, my respect for this simple looking piece of metal grew and grew.
Behold this little bolt.  He held up one taken from his toolbox, to show me what it looked like all on its own.  I held it in my hand.  It was a bit longer than my biggest finger, but not quite as fat.  It had a golden colour and some plastic netting stretched along the shank, which I later learned was to protect the bolt while it was new.
When you know your life depends upon something, you tend to take extra pains to be attentive to that matter.  I paid attention to this bolt.
The instructor spoke on, "This bolt is so strong it can hold up almost two Holden utilities. (Nearly two tonnes.)  Consequently, it is far stronger than is necessary for it to act as the hanging point for a microlight aircraft and its passengers. We can feel safe with this margin of strength in our favour."  Well, that was indeed reassuring!
It is amazing how conversations like that stay in your mind forever.  This little bolt is a special part of every microlight pilot's experience of flight.

Break that bolt and you will more than break your heart.  It is aptly named the heart bolt.

The good news is that microlights are so designed that should the unlikely event happen, where this intriguingly strong bolt should malfunction, there is a back up safety strap that also connects the trike base to the wing keel.
Like rebound love affairs after a romantic heartbreak, the safety strap is not as strong as the original.  It is there to get you through a time of disaster without too many catastrophic results.  It will get you down, but the let down may not be easy.
I am always conscious of the heart bolt in my microlight.  Like true love, it cannot be taken for granted.  It has to be kept in peak condition.  That takes commitment and you must check on the condition regularly and often.  Only then can you be sure that a heartbreak is not about to happen upon you from out of nowhere.
At Midcoast Microlights, where I fly with some heroes of aviation in the Port Macquarie district of NSW, we change our heart bolts approximately every 50 hours.  That keeps them in peak condition.  (We try to make our love affairs last much longer than 50 hours!  Mine has lasted over 30 years.)

How is your heart bolt?  Don't let it become a heartbreaker. Keep a happy heartbeat happening with a peak condition heart bolt.
Perhaps then, you may not be flying through the sky singing, "Love is in the air ...", but you should feel that your microlight is safely in the air.