Those are fun!
The former is a very descriptive way of saying we're doing things the hard way, at least to this English speaker.
The latter creates more pleasant mental imagery, but (no pun intended) I can see how it could equate to "flying by the seat of the pants" which is pretty much "making it up as we go".
Comparing expressions and idioms by language could make for an entertaining evening around a fire, if a couple of adult beverages were tossed into the mix.
SR