Fabric covering

[Deskpilot]

Tell me, when covering a wing with fabric, what's easiest, gluing it to the ribs or stitching? Is it dependant on the type of material the ribs are made from? Is the underside done any differently to the top? Informed comments only please.

 

 

[skyfox1]

Hi i have done two aircraft with ceconite and one with timber the other was aluminium l glued both with great sucsess put the glue one the ribs let dry then after you have shrunk material to the right tension then reactervate the glue with dope.

 

cheers Geoff.

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Thanks guys. I guess I should explain why I want this info.

 

Having sort of 'designed' my EagleRay, I was thinking it might be cheaper, in the long run, to build a very simple, 95-10 version of the wing to see it it will in fact, fly. To this end, I was thinking of using cheap aluminium tube and any fabric I can get. Before you get all hot and bothered, I'm not opposed to some external rigging (struts or wires) to give a bit of extra strength. An open fuselage will save weight, cost and complexity.

 

 

[old man emu]

Doug,

 

The choice between glueing and stitching comes down to two things: your Vne and the appearance of the finished airplane.

 

If your Vne is less than 90 Kts, then well glued fabric would be OK. However, you would be best to have wide ribs to provide the largest surface area to glue to. I'm talking of ribs about 1" wide. If your ribs are thinner than that, there's not much surface area to get a good attachment. The last thing you'd want is for your fabric to come loose and destroy your aerofoil shape.

 

Secondly, if you glue your fabric down, you will end up with glue lines showing through the fabric, and the finished appearance won't be much good.

 

OME

 

 

[Yenn]

IO was under thwe impression that glueing was required, even if you later stitched. If I had only stitched the Corby I doubt that I would have been able to shrink it. It need the glueing to the ibs to even up the tension in the fabric. Of course with Stitts you do not necessarily use the glue as the second pink coat ( its name escapes me) acts as glue.

 

 

[old man emu]

Yenn,

 

When we cover wings and tailplanes, we normally fold the covering material in half and then wrap the structure inside the fold so that we have the ends of the cloth towards the aft of the structure. Then we glue the edges to the trailing edges inner and outer ends of the structure. After than we use an iron to shink the fabric and get it to "drum skin" tension. After that, we stitch.

 

Did you stitch before ironing?

 

OME

 

 

[HunterJ]

Hi Guys

 

Just dropped in to see what was happening in the 'woods' and noticed this thread.

 

The Stewart System is gold - no dangerous goods shipping costs that are greater than the cost of the product!!! Very user friendly and above all forgiving and it works well with Ceconite.

 

Just my thoughts - check out the online YouTube vids at and see how good it is.

 

Cheers

 

HJ

 

 

[Wayne T Mathews]

Hi GuysJust dropped in to see what was happening in the 'woods' and noticed this thread.

The Stewart System is gold - no dangerous goods shipping costs that are greater than the cost of the product!!! Very user friendly and above all forgiving and it works well with Ceconite.

 

Just my thoughts - check out the online YouTube vids at and see how good it is.

 

Cheers

 

HJ

G'day Hunter... Love ya pitchah... Wanna get one exactly like it, only different?

 

Keep the sunny side up,

 

Wayne.