eniac

You stop believing in the instructions when you've figured out a better way to do the job.

For some reason, I have this unfounded fear of the little 'pin' on the LE of most wings that plugs into a forward former (with bolts on the back which hold the wing to the fuse), I'd swear I'm going to shear that off one day. I have yet to see one fail, but I now like to build a second wing block near the forward most spar and reinforce the center section with a couple chunks of basswood, and then use a second set of bolts to hold the wing to the fuse. This does seem to give a slightly crisper plane in high bumpy winds, as well as a little reassurance that 'everything will be fine' when trying the first full throttle outside loop. The pin becomes just an alignment component.

I always thought the idea of working with the kit and instructions is to teach you the various ways of constructing models. Take as much as possible from each kit (adrian page; I love your fuselage stringer construction, I added that to my slowpoke to make it look more round), and then use those tricks or techniques on subsequent kits.

Instructions are for when plans seem unclear, when plans and instructions seem unclear, invent a new solution that does the job twice as well as the unclear components.

Note: Do read ahead a few steps if the kits has instructions, it often helps you avoid those 'cannot fit that now...what to move...' problems.

eniac