Rules for rib-lacing

[Jfquebec]

I everybody You it is mandatory to the rib lacing on a plane across the United States


Jf

[Dorsal]

It is not mandatory to do rib lacing in the US (good idea though)

[Paul Z]

I would be more concerned wit safety then I would a FAA Rule. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable with 15 feetofmaterial just glues ti the ribs. A couple days of stitching would be well worth the effort in my opinion!

[Jfquebec]

I ask the question because i want to buy a kitfox in us,,,so i need to check it before ......

Thank's for your responses...

Jf

[Lion8]

While we're on the subject, is there a possibillity of rib stiching on a completed set of wings?

[Geowitz]

If the wing were already painted I would imagine you could just add reinforcement tape, rib stitch, and put another finishing tape over top. You might want to add new perimeter tape too after to overlap everything. Paint on the UV block and then paint to match. It seems to me the only thing that would be wrong with this would be purely cosmetic. It kind of just like a patch over finished covering.

If it's not finish painted yet, then depending on which covering system you have you may be able to heat up the tapes and peel them off and start back like you were doing it from the start. I'm pretty sure I could do this with the Stewart System. Not sure about poly fiber.

[kitfoxnick]

I rib stitched mine last year. The plane was 13 years old. I just didn't like the idea of not having some form of mechanical fastening. It is not as easy because you can't see thru the wings like you can before you paint. I took two pieces of 1/2 reinforcing tape over the rib on top of the 2" finish tape. After I ribbed stitched I used a 3" tape to finish. Silver over the tape then a top coat.

[cap01]

nick , did you remove the paint and reinforcing tape off the ribs before you stiched ?

[kitfoxnick]

Since mine was not rib stitched originally there was no reinforcing tape. The fabric was glued directly to the cap strip of the rib. A piece of 2" finish tape was applied over the rib as part of the dressing out process. My plane was painted with poly tone. The beauty of the poly tone is that the MEK based poly brush melts into the paint, so no removal necessary.