Wing Covering-Rib Stitch or Not

[joey4420]

I rib Stitched my Double Eagle with my son's help it took maybe 4 or 6 hours to do both wings, I just remember we had fun.  I would feed it to him and he would tie it off.  We got to hang out for a couple of weekends which was worth it.  Plus after talking to several people on the field including Ultralight flyers, Rib Stitching is preferred by all I talked to and considering it didn't really take that long and added very little weight I would say worth it.  I would rather spend a little time doing this on the ground now, then wishing I had done it while flying if my fabric would separate for any reason.

[Aaron]

When I was at your stage of my build and started asking if I should rib stitch, there were two prominent opinions that stuck with me. First was "It wont come apart, you don't need to stitch." The second opinion was, "Until it does, and you wished you did..." Both were qualified and reputable opinions btw. Whichever statement speaks to you more provides clarity to your question

Also note, as mentioned earlier, that dope adhesion performs best in shear and fabric to fabric as the dope encapsulates the weave and creates a strong bond. It is weakest (still not that bad but sometimes enough to make you wonder) in peel and when fabric has to bond to something else like tubing or spruce, etc. So, since that 'balooning' between bays, fabric oscillation from prop blast and flight in general try their best to peel the fabric from the wood, It seems to me that it would make good sense to stitch. Especially considering the weight of some dental floss and tape. Although to argue opposite I never have heard of an LE crashing due to fabric delamination...

Regardless, when I stitched, I spaced my rib stitching twice the distance as referenced from AC43.13 for our speed category (slower than $*!#). For the tail feathers and ailerons, same spacing, but stitched Ercoupe style (non-continuous with circular patches) to keep it lighter.