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Path: utzoo!dciem!mmt
From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.jokes
Subject: perforated paper
Message-ID: <292@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 18-Aug-83 09:59:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: dciem.292
Posted: Thu Aug 18 09:59:56 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Aug-83 17:50:02 EDT
Organization: D.C.I.E.M, Toronto, Canada
Lines: 20

On another newsgroup, someone asked about line-printer paper that
had perforations down only one side, and asked why that might be.
The following story seems to answer the question. It happened
during World War II:

A certain new high-performance fighter plane was undergoing flight
tests, and performing very well except for the fact that when it
pulled sharply out of a dive the wings had a tendency to fall off.
Nothing the designers could do would fix the problem, until someone
mentioned it to a clerk. He said he knew how to fix it. Just put a
row of small holes along the wing root, where it joined the body of
the plane. Everyone scoffed at him, but since nothing else worked,
they tried it. Lo and behold, the wings didn't fall off. When they
asked him why he made his suggestion, he said it was obvious. No-one
had ever seen paper tear along the perforated line, so perforating
the wing was the obvious way to stop the wings tearing off.

Sorry.

Martin Taylor