The Applecore had an all-metal stressed skin fuselage and the wings were metal covered in fabric; it was no more maintenance intensive than the TBD or B5N or other naval aircraft simply because it had fabric covered biplane wings. Many aircraft of the day still had bracing wires and fabric covering, the SOC Seagull for example that could be found on every US battleship or cruiser, the frontline US fighters in army and navy service had fabric covered control surfaces, so why would the Albacore be considered any different from a maintenance perspective?