Have you ever done something stupid?

[Genghis the Engineer]

More stupid things than I count any more, some I'll admit to, some I'll keep to myself.

I once joined the long and glorious list of British aviation "experts" who tried to help a famous designer with the initials JE to improve his most well known aeroplane into something faintly saleable. Like everybody else, I got ignored and sidelined, and as it always was, the EO remains a useless historical curiosity.

Rather earlier as a quite new PPL and rather before I became as well educated (and cynical) as I am now, I broke a perfectly serviceable aeroplane through a combination of accepting what another PPL told me in a syndicate checkout rather than insisting on getting and reading the POH before I flew the aeroplane on my own. (And failing to recognise the need to divert when there was plenty of evidence that this would be a bloody good idea at that point).

Non aviation mistakes are between me and my maker.

However, to quote a long retired boss of mine at the old Royal Aircraft Establishment, and a very old fashioned "hairy a**ed engineer": "The man who never made any mistakes, never made owt else either."

G