Ah, my kind of post....

Cut away the bad panel out to within 1/8 of the ribs, spars and leading and trailing edges. Dribble a very thin line of medium CA onto the little tab that's left and quickly fold it over with your finger and rub back and forth until it's stuck down well to the inner faces of the ribs, spars and edges. This will imobilize the tissue. Use dope or Ambroid instead of the CA if you're feeling particularly nostalgic....

When it's time to patch cut the patch tissue about 1/4 wider on either side than the rib width and leave about 1/2 to 1 inch past the leading and trailing edges. Dope around the edges of the opeing about 1/4 wide to freshen up the base. Don't worry about rushing. You'll use thinner in a second to stick things down anyway. Now take your tissue and dampen it lightly with a mist of water from a spray bottle. If it's the old style authentic Jap tissue (I doubt it on a model of a Gentle Lady size) then skip the water. Lay the tissue in place so it's nice and smooth. Use a paint brush to lay on some pure dope thinner around the edges and lightly then more firmly rub the tissue down to bond well. A little dope added and rubbed in following this doesn't hurt either. Let dry to shrink.

Lay on 3 or 4 coats of clear. For the first couple I like to put the dope on the open areas first as it slackens off the tautness. After the open areas are done I slap a thinner layer (so it dries faster than the rest) onto the seams. After the second coat done this way you can just lay the dope on normally.

Ah..... tissue and dope. The way things SHOULD be..... ( oh boy, I'm gonna catch it for this last bit... LOL)