The Royal Air Force develops a new fighter jet. It is very fast, extremely agile and more or less the perfect aircraft. Only one problem occurs time and again – the wings keep breaking off.
No matter what the engineers try, they fail to solve the problem. The Ministry of Defence offers a special prize of 100,000 to anyone who can find a solution.
Among the thousands of submissions is a letter from Mrs. Brenda White, 70, of Grimsby. She recommends applying perforations to the points where the wings keep breaking off.
All the experts have a good laugh at old Brenda and try out the other suggested solutions first, but none of them work.
In the end, they perforate the wings at the points where they otherwise break off – and the wings stay intact!
All the experts are astonished and all of them want to know how old Brenda hit upon the idea for the solution. When she comes to the Ministry to receive her prize, the Minister of Defence himself asks her directly.
“Well, you know,” says Brenda, “it’s quite simple really. Has your toilet paper ever torn at the perforations?”