FAA Advisory Circular 43.13-1B
Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices
Aircraft Inspection and Repair
AC 43.13-1B | 2. Fabric Covering | 4. Repairs to Fabric Covering | 2-44. Sewn-patch Repair
AC 43.13-1B
9/8/98
FIGURE 2-13. Repair of tears in fabric.
a. Finishing tapes should be well satu-
rated with dope and smoothed out with no
voids or wrinkles during installation. After
drying for 1 hour at 70 °F, additional coats of
clear dope followed with pigmented dope are
applied as detailed in paragraph 2-21.
b. If the opening is more than 8 inches
long but less than 16 inches long in any direc
tion, the finishing tape width should be in
creased to 4 inches.
c. The finishing tape width should be in
creased to 6 inches if the opening is more than
16 inches long in any direction, is located on a
wing top surface, or the aircraft Vne speed is
greater than 150 mph.
2-44. SEWN-PATCH REPAIR. Openings
that cannot be repaired by closing with stitches
may be repaired by sewing in a new fabric
section. The edges of the fabric around the
opening should be trimmed straight on four
sides to facilitate the installation of straight
sections of finishing tape over the stitches.
a. After cutting out the damaged section
and removing the coatings as detailed in para
graph 2-42, the new fabric section should be
sized to allow folding both edges of the fabric
back 1/2-inch to increase the stitch tear resis
tance. Temporarily attach the four corners in
position with thread. Start with a double
thread with a square knot at the end (see fig
ure 2-14) and continue stitching in the manner
described in figures 2-13 and 2-14. When the
stitching is complete, wet the new fabric sec
tion as described in paragraph 2-21 to remove
any creases. After drying, apply one coat of
clear dope on the new fabric, as described in
paragraph 2-21. When the first coat of dope
has dried 1 hour at 70 °F, apply a 3-inch wide
finishing tape, centered over the stitches. The
finishing tape should be well saturated with
Page 2-38
Par 2-43