Eccentric bolt for attaching mission pod to aircraft

A method of attaching a mission pod having a clevis, to an aircraft having a lug, the clevis comprising a pair of forks respectively having a first hole and a second hole concentrically aligned with each other, and the first hole is larger in diameter than the second hole, and the lug is an externally projecting lug containing a bearing having a passage, the method comprising:

• positioning the lug between the forks of the clevis to approximately axially align the passage in the bearing with the first and second holes in the clevis to form a clevis and lug fitting;
• inserting an eccentric bolt partially through the clevis and lug fitting until an eccentric shank section of a shank of the eccentric bolt engages the lug, and the eccentric bolt has multiple shank sections that successively decrease in diameter in an axial direction from a head toward a tail end of the shank, and the shank sections include concentric shank sections and the eccentric shank section, which is off-center with respect to a center axis of the shank, and the shank includes multiple ramps tapering the diameter between adjacent ones of the shank sections, and each ramp extends continuously around a circumference of the shank;
• engaging the eccentric shank section with the passage of the bearing of the lug prior to engaging the concentric shank sections with the forks of the clevis;
• rotating the shank of the eccentric bolt to align the concentric shank sections with the first and second holes in the clevis;
• bearing the ramps against edges of the first and second holes while rotating the shank as increased alignment is achieved between the concentric shank sections and the first and second holes in the clevis;
• and
• inserting the eccentric bolt further through the clevis and lug fitting in a manner compensating for misalignment between the passage and the first and second holes, to engage the clevis with the eccentric bolt and thereby attach the mission pod to the aircraft.