Previous Oh, No! Disasters

What do you do when you realize the semi-scale Mustang wing cuffs are too small? Simple, rip them off and make new ones. the third photo shows the new cuffs, if you look closely.

What do you do when over-plasticized dope doesn't harden enough to sand well? Simple, reskin the wing.

These are photos of the original molded Mustang, the blue E2-S. This airplane was the first of a series of airplanes later called "Snaggletooth". I screw up a lot but I'm very good at fixing mistakes. This first Snaggletooth had the fuselage lengthened, the wing cuffs replaced and the wing reskinned before it flew for the first time. It was a wonder that it flew well enough to place 3rd at the NATs in 1974. Later versions benefited from the lessons learned. Ah, well.

Hmmm. How do I say this and not sound like a jerk or a jurk. Ha. When I see someone with your experience and and fame doing "dumb" things, then I don't feel too bad about some of my real dumb mistakes. Just shows that we are human, and it takes courage to tear into a plane and fix it. I tend to just shrug and fly the dam thing. Of course it does not fly worth beans. But now I have more incentive to make those corrections before finishing the plane. A mistake corrected is not a mistake, but an learning experience, and I have a lot of "experience". Soldier on Al. We love your inputs.

There are a lot of things that we all wish had been done differently, and many times we don't know until we do it wrong. But, as Al has said repeatedly, it is never too late to tear into a plane.

I guess it's only by making these mistakes and trying a few dumb ideas that makes us experienced modellers. I rely so much on these past experiences.

Success is just the last failure that did not happen.

Hi Al,

I truly, sincerely wish that I were good enough to screw up as badly as you do! Or even notice that I had!

I still remember seeing you fly the first ever (for me) Verticle Square Eight back in the late 60s in Lexington. Say Hi to Lew . . .