I just realized I misremembered the Aeronca guy encounter. "The Mind's a Terrible Thing to Lose"
He liked the mirror thing and wanted an Aeronca done like that. So I had to explain to him that it wasn't possible.
The one thing you can't do with this approach is a centerline propeller. Think about it. If you do half a prop span-wise, you can only mount it perpendicular to the mirror to get the appearance of a straight, continuous propeller. But the half in the mirror will have opposite pitch and the prop wouldn't produce any thrust. If you split a prop lengthwise, you can only mount it vertical and each half of it would have opposite pitch in the mirror. It would not only have no thrust, but look ridiculous.
You can picture all these prop/mirror problems just by looking at the Aeronca photo I posted.
So when I finally convinced the guy that it just wasn't possible, he asked if I could do a whole one. Flattery is a dangerous weapon and I agreed. And as I said earlier, I still have it.