Not scared of fabric anymore, progress.

[alexM]

Better Aircraft & Lars told me. It was highly recommended when I was covering in 2016 -17.

Interesting. That's not what he told me in 2021. He still recommends using the adhesive where tape goes over a seam joint (as others have mentioned) but it's more of an aesthetic thing. Lars happily pointed out how I could remove the wide piece over my leading edge in the event it should start looking rough, without any risk of damage to the underlying Oratex 6000. I was able to prove him right when I screwed up a piece of finish tape on my fuselage. With just the right amount of heat it comes off without leaving a trace.

And I think the factory changes the process even more over time. They no longer recommend the tapes over the top of tubes where they come into contact with the fabric. Of course I learned that right after completing the job on my own plane.

I don't know this for sure, but if you omit rib stitching you might have the first Kitfox covered with Oratex without rib stitching.

Not so much. Besides Harlan, Dustin (Shadowrider) and his brother didn't rib stitch when they did Oratex. Also Nate Ashton, Geek, myself...I'm sure I'm forgetting others.

Rib stitching might be easy, but not rib stitching is even easier. It's also smoother, lighter and looks better. I did numerous peel tests and plenty of math before making my final decision.