Stuff happens

[DanB]

Thought I'd start this thread as it seems Murphy's Law is constantly at work. JerryTex asked the following question in another thread...Give us a chuckle...tell us your goofs

On a side note, does anyone else have dumb things happen to them while working on their plane? I manged to poke a small hole in the bottom of the fuselage fabric by accidently dropping a razor knife. My jaw dropped when it happened. It is a small slit but still, it messed up a beautiful finish and ruined my day. Thank god it was on the bottom of the fuselage so you really can't see it. Any pointers on fixing it. I put tape over it.
JERRYTEX

[DanB]

On a side note, does anyone else have dumb things happen to them while working on their plane? I manged to poke a small hole in the bottom of the fuselage fabric by accidently dropping a razor knife. My jaw dropped when it happened. It is a small slit but still, it messed up a beautiful finish and ruined my day. Thank god it was on the bottom of the fuselage so you really can't see it. Any pointers on fixing it. I put tape over it.
JERRYTEX[/quote]

Funny you ask Jerry as I think about it frequently while building my bird. One thing I had happen that dropped my jaw and made me speechless...
I had just finished painting one of my wings (final color coat). I turned the wing on the PVC stand and the stand broke. I swear I watched that wing fall in slow motion, land on the trailing edge and bend when it landed on a 2x4. All I could do was stare at it in disbelief. I simply walked out of the garage, told my wife I was going for a drive, and tried cooling down. I didn't go back in the garage for 2 days.

[N82HB]

I think the more common error is with biplanes. While pulling panels on the top wing you can easily drop your screwdriver and punch a hole in the bottom wing. Even though it is very common the jaw-dropping effect is the same every time.

[Dave S]

Jerry & All,

Such is the nature of our condition. I think it is a rare situation where stuff DOESN'T happens Normally we get bit by it somehow, some where , when we least expect it.

Yeah, I can relate to the hole in the fabric on the bottom of the aircraft - In my case it was a phillips screwdriver leaving a nice little star hole in the bottom. Cut a little round piece of 500 MPH tape to just cover it and it is still there.

Another thing a person could do with a tiny hole in the belly is get the soldering Iron out, glue in a grommet and call it a drain hole.....

When you think about it - the number of things a person does to build an airplane, maybe we are still pretty lucky to only get one or two.....



Dave S

[Newkid]

I was trying to pull a cleco out of a tab on the side of the airplane, and when the cleco finally let loose my hand was still trying to pull it out. Nice big tear in the top of the plane. Easily seen from behind at any angle. After 25 hours though the little dings here and there just don't seem to matter as much.

[Slyfox]

I use krylon white in the spray can. works for me. I also have used the duck tape on the back side and moved on.

[DanB]

Guess that's the difference between owning a Kitfox and an Avid