Ok, but they were going on like the plane would be unflyable, incredibly dangerous risky etc.
While not optimal, it was obviously flyable, and I'm sure the test pilot would have refused to take off had he not thought it was more than reasonably safe.
I wonder how / if the plane would fly without ANY fuselage skin ? (Just covering on the wings / rudder / tail / elevators ?
Reminds me of another show from PBS "Plane Crazy", where a guy was going to design his own homebuilt and build it. During the show he met with Peter Garrison (Melmouth) to review the design.
Peter mentioned that many planes during wartime flew home with amazing amounts of damage, as he was making the point that for *basic flight*, aircraft design didn't really need to be "that" precise. (I.e. for the first "pioneers").