Needs to be rib-stitched?

[skywagon8a]

Perhaps you can press on the edges of the flat glue strip enough to be able to see were the rib cap strip is located. You will develop a process. Good luck, you have a big job ahead of you.

 

[Skywalker]

The big long needle you'll need determines the drill size. Good explanation of stitching in the PolyFiber manual.

 

[Kid Durango]

I would make up a mock up and practice there. I’m betting it will modify how you want to do it. We learned using a piece of wood pre drilled. Students have a harder time tearing up wood than fabric! It was very difficult using the needle without the small amount of flex that the fabric gives. The stitch spacing really makes that evident. I don’t see why you couldn’t do it conventionally next to your wood caps. Assuming they are relatively straight. The stitching is there really just to hold the fabric, and doesn’t give strength to your ribs. Best of luck, tough project.

 

[Chubby_cubby]

Anyone know the name of the reinforcing strips of tap that goes on top of the fabric on top of each rib... that I will then tie the knots over the top of? Also, the best glue... and the wide strips of tape that covers over the stitches that can then be painted? My daughter is meticulous and awesome at jobs like this... we'll do it together .

 

[phdigger123]

ok.. so get a bit the size of the stitching - not sure how I'll not hit a rib eventually - given the number of holes to drill where I can't see... probably should use a soldering iron first to cauterize the fabric hole?

Thanks for all your help by the way!

Mark rib locations and hole positions with a straight edge and pencil before drilling. Due to the wing curve, your hole spacing frim top to bottom will very slightly. Do not use a soldering iron on the fabric. The melted fabric will make a hard lump and be visible in the finished product.

Also, as Kid Durango says, it won’t hurt to stitch on the edges of the wood strips and not drill holes.

 

[Skywalker]

Anyone know the name of the reinforcing strips of tap that goes on top of the fabric on top of each rib... that I will then tie the knots over the top of? Also, the best glue... and the wide strips of tape that covers over the stitches that can then be painted? My daughter is meticulous and awesome at jobs like this... we'll do it together .

Aircraft Spruce calls them Ceconite Reinforcing Tape and Linear Pinked Tape. I use PolyFiber Poly-Tack glue, haven't tried any others.

 

[skywagon8a]

You may find the drilling easier if you use a long drill bit which can reach through the wing. Then drill from the bottom, holding the drill perpendicular to the bottom of the wing. After you drill the bottom hole, you will be able to feel where the edge of the top of the rib is and if there is any interference along the way. If you find interference, just move your starting hole. An extra hole won't hurt anything, you will be covering the entire area with a finishing tape when you're done. Drilling all the way through will also help in keeping the holes lined up top and bottom.

A couple of sources for the drill bits: https://www.drillbitwarehouse.com/p..._source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP DSA - Categories&utm_term=long drill bits&utm_content=Long Drill Bits - Category

McMaster-Carr

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Your local hardware store may have some.
Make the hole a little larger than your needle. Extra large in this application will do no harm and may make your job easier. The important part is making certain not to drill into the cap strip on the rib.

 

[stewartb]

Do the bottoms of the ribs have the same wider strips? In not, make a drilling guide for the top ribs to save on time and potential mistakes. Rib lacing should be vertical, so around the wide strips would be incorrect. I hope for your sake the wings are off the plane. Stitching on the plane will be a huge pain. As for products? You’re experimental, right? Glue and paint compatibility need to be confirmed but who make the tapes doesn’t. Oratex straight edged tapes don’t require a silver coat and would be easy to mask for paint. That’d be a big deal for time savings and finish appearance.

Having a work partner will make stitching easier. If working solo, having a bunch of needles so you can reduce the back and forth is helpful.

 

[TR Dunn]

Just a thought...this may be a candidate for employing a simple starter knot at each desired lacing location in lieu of the continuous seine knots. Although this technique typically takes more time, this may be a case where this technique is appropriate and simpler to meet your objective. The end result is the same, a mechanical attachment of the fabric to the rib. It is acceptable practice to stitch the entire wing utilizing starter knots at each rib lacing location.

TR

 

[Chubby_cubby]

I stitched the first rib after the tank… I don’t think this is going to be the way to go for various reasons.
The fabric seems to hold well glued to the 1” wood strips which the builder glued to the top and bottom of each rib; however I don’t trust it.

Looking for replacement wings :-(

 

[skywagon8a]

I stitched the first rib after the tank… I don’t think this is going to be the way to go for various reasons.
The fabric seems to hold well glued to the 1” wood strips which the builder glued to the top and bottom of each rib; however I don’t trust it.

Looking for replacement wings :-(

Take a good look at the rest of your wings. Is the glue still holding the ribs together? How about the rest of it? It's a big job, but if all else is satisfactory, just strip off the fabric, cut off the overhang of those wide strips and recover the wings.

 

[Chubby_cubby]

Take a good look at the rest of your wings. Is the glue still holding the ribs together? How about the rest of it? It's a big job, but if all else is satisfactory, just strip off the fabric, cut off the overhang of those wide strips and recover the wings.

The glue seems to be rock solid on every rib. What started this was that the original builder did not wrap the fabric around the root ribs, but cut the fabric flush at the edge. Then he didn’t secure the middle of the trim that covers the gap between the fuselage and root rib. Consequently it vibrated enough against that non-wrapped glued fabric on top of the root rib and eventually it released there only.

 

[Chubby_cubby]

I may have access to a set of Tri-pacer wings. If I pick these up, I understand that I will need to extend these like 3 feet or so.

Is this a pretty straightforward upgrade to Tri-pacer wings?

 

[phdigger123]

I may have access to a set of Tri-pacer wings. If I pick these up, I understand that I will need to extend these like 3 feet or so.

Is this a pretty straightforward upgrade to Tri-pacer wings?

That would be a lot more work than recovering your current wings like Skywagon suggested. Extending a set of Tri-pacer wings would be more work than building a new set of wings from scratch.

You know how your current set of wings fly. They are trammeled, you know your strut adjustments. That won’t change with Skywagon’s suggestion. Moving to a modified set of Tri-pacer wings and you are test flying from square one to get things set up correctly.

 

[Chubby_cubby]

That would be a lot more work than recovering your current wings like Skywagon suggested. Extending a set of Tri-pacer wings would be more work than building a new set of wings from scratch.

You know how your current set of wings fly. They are trammeled, you know your strut adjustments. That won’t change with Skywagon’s suggestion. Moving to a modified set of Tri-pacer wings and you are test flying from square one to get things set up correctly.

Interesting… that’s surprising that it would be more work to extend Tri-pacer wings than to strip the fabric off my existing wings, cut down the strips from every rib, then re-fabric, and rib-stitch the wings.

I am leaning toward the Tri-pacer wings, because I can continue to fly (carefully inspecting before each flight) while I work on the Tri-pacer wings. I also ‘feel’ that my wings may not be as high quality as Piper wings.

 

[Dan Gervae]

How do you plan to extend the spars and then add the new ribs while making all the dimensions work on the tri pacer wings? I don’t think you can simply add on to them and make it work…I think you will find this more complicated than that.

 

[skywagon8a]

The angle of the lift strut attach fitting to the spar on the long wings is 21'45" per drawing #14383.
I've been unable to locate drawing #11753 which is applicable to the short wings. I suspect that the wing attach fitting angle is different. The fact that the long wing is precisely 21 and 3/4 degrees suggests that this angle is critical. I'm not a structural engineer, but with this knowledge I would be hesitant to stretch the short wings without considering this difference.

Also I believe that Piper only permits spar splices outboard of the lift strut fitting. I understand yours is experimental and what Piper says doesn't apply ....but? There must be a good reason for this.

 

[Chubby_cubby]

My son (he is an A&P) told me there is a kit I can buy to extend tri-pacer wings to turn a tri-pacer into a Bushmaster. To be transparent, I haven't researched it myself - I have read a few threads on this form regarding converting a tri-pacer.

 

[skywagon8a]

That angle difference would be my only concern. I just don't know what the difference is. Perhaps it's not enough to be important? I'm sure the spar splice can be made structurally strong enough. There is ample guidance in AC 43.13-1.

 

[cubdriver2]

Tooltimes wings on his 2+2 are extended tripacer wings

Glenn