Rib Stitching the Tiger Moth Wings with Henry Riege

 George Inman made a batch of needles from welding rods - at the height of our Tiger Moth Rib Stitching Party May 8th every needle was put into action! Thank you to an enthusiastic crew of stitchers:
George Inman, Ben Toenders, Rick Riewe (Rick decided Poly Brush painting was his speciality after struggling with the knot, Bert Elam (his quote of the day was "How many 'nauts/hour' is the Tiger Moth crew going, about 70 knots?), Jim Oke, Al Tring, Maurice April, with Jill and Henry Riege teaching beginners and stitching. We began at about 9:00 am and worked til about 5:00 - with all the helpers and Henry trouble shooting we were able to get three wings rib stitched!!!

 Rick, George and Al pre-measuring stitches. Stitches were spaced every 2" on rib #2, 3, & 4 on the upper wings and on rib #2, 3, 4, &5, on the lower wings. The remaining ribs were stitched every 3" using Poly Fiber rib lacing thread and George Inman's hand made needles. Holes on the upper surfaces were pre-punched.

 Ben Toender Stitching.

 Ben and Jill stitching; Ben stitched from the trailing edge to about 1/2 way along the rib and then passed the needle and thread on to Jill who tied the knots upside down from mid way along the rib to the leading edge. We worked on the wing from the top side.

 Ben was babysitting his son's dog who was very attentive while we were stitching and would create a stir if our stitches were out of alignment...our supervisor!

Henry Riege finishing the trailing edge of the upper wing while Bert and Ben stitch in the background.

 Rick pre-measuring the stitch locations on each rib while Henry put the finishing touches on the leading edge.

 Ben Toenders and Bert Elam stitching - we didn't use a wing rotisserie ...just practised our 'Zumba deep knee bends'!

 Jim Goold dropped in to check out our progress

 We all are thoroughly appreciating learning from Henry Riege - from left to right Vic Prefontaiine, Henry, Doug Render, Ben Toender and Jim Goold.

 Another wing stitched!!! We switched wings so the next wing to be stitched was on the higher saw horses.

 Maurice April (left to right) Henry, Jill, Bert Elam and George Inman.

 The Rib Stitching Crew (lft-rht) - George Inman, Jim Oke, Henry Riege, Bert Elam and Rick Riewe.