Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Beating a Dead Horse

Today I worked on Zoom-Zoom, my sixty-sized model airplane. I accomplished some major repairs in the past month and the forward portion, that sustained most of the damage was bare plywood. After smoothing things out I covered it with a plastic product called Monocoat. This is a sheet of thin colored plastic sort of like Saran-Wrap but heavier. Once a piece is cut the adhesive backing is peeled off and the material placed over the bare wood. Then it is “shrunk” with a small hand held iron.

As I was working I thought about how craftsmen of old worked. At the present stage of my learning I would definitely be considered an apprentice. There are several good books that help explain all the myriad of tasks in the hobby. If I continue to improve I might promote myself to Journeyman. Who knows I might even reach the rank of “Master Craftsman” if I stick with it.

It all goes back to the Standard Deviation (SD) idea. One SD is 68% mastery (Apprentice.) Two SDs is Journey Man which is 95% mastery. Master Craftsman is 99% Mastery.

If someone really wants to stretch things they could compare this with the levels of writing, which are tactical, operational and strategic. Don’t worry… I don’t intend to beat that horse to death. At least not tonight. Yawn...