On Dec 31, 10:18*am, "Tri-Pacer" no wrote:

it can be a fun job---a nice Summer evening, a drop light under the wing to
show up the holes in the ribs, An ice pick to punch the holes, a six pack of
beer------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It could also be a hell of a job. Dob about a dozen screws with paint
remover, use a needle-sharp scriber to pry the softened dope out of
the screw-head, easy if they're slotted, pure hell if they've used
Phillips, Scott or Cross (ie, other forms of the Phillips patent).
Better done at night than during the day, however. But nights, you've
also got to deal with mosquitoes, and moths the size of sparrows.

When Bob K mentioned it (see above) that was the first thing I thought
of -- those aluminum strips installed with those low-profile Phillip's
head screws.

Funny thing... you'll often find the clipped or screwed fabric
fastener systems on airplanes that didn't come that way from the
factory. I've often wondered about that, since it tends to indicate a
revision of the wing, going to a metal rib with the newer method of
securing the fabric.

There must be an STC for screwed-straps on several of the DC's. Least
ways, I've seen it on DC-3's and DC-4's. (May have been for Razor
back...) Vietnam, we used beer-can aluminum and gray RTV, plus tying
it off to a matching piece on the other side. Those were all
razorback but the Air Force didn't have anyone in-country qualified to
do it -- they were shipping their rudders and elevators all the way
back to Long Beach, when all they needed (most of the time) was a
simple repair.

-R.S.Hoover