Metal back to Fabric Questions
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2026 1:20 pm
Hey Everyone,
Young A&P here and just soloed in my 140 four weeks ago. I have a 47' Cessna 140 and just started a wing recover project. Upon removing the fabric I noticed numerous holes drilled in a line on the spar caps and numerous extra holes drilled on the ribs in line with the fabric attachment rivet holes. There were also holes drilled in the leading edge skin. There is no mention of the wings ever being metalized or de-metalized back to 1959 (As that is as far as the logbooks go). So it has been flying like this for about 4000 hours and 66 years with no evidence of cracks, stress fatigue, or corrosion. Is this an issue or is there some corrective action required? I am hoping for some guys who have done metal back to fabric conversions to chime in and offer some factual advice.
Thanks,
Nathan
Young A&P here and just soloed in my 140 four weeks ago. I have a 47' Cessna 140 and just started a wing recover project. Upon removing the fabric I noticed numerous holes drilled in a line on the spar caps and numerous extra holes drilled on the ribs in line with the fabric attachment rivet holes. There were also holes drilled in the leading edge skin. There is no mention of the wings ever being metalized or de-metalized back to 1959 (As that is as far as the logbooks go). So it has been flying like this for about 4000 hours and 66 years with no evidence of cracks, stress fatigue, or corrosion. Is this an issue or is there some corrective action required? I am hoping for some guys who have done metal back to fabric conversions to chime in and offer some factual advice.
Thanks,
Nathan