Page 66 - MY STORY

metal that met all the specification requirements for

quality, strength, and ductility. So I left feeling pretty
good about saving TIMET a ton of money, as well as our
reputation for quality product.

My euphoria was short-lived, however. A few weeks
later the materials buyer at NAA called our office and told

our salesman that NAA was going to release a major
order for titanium alloy sheet that would likely amount to
around $1,000,000. He indicated that he might send the

bid package to TIMET if we might consider accepting the
return of the alloy plate that was sitting in their warehouse

that TIMET’s tech services guy (me) had refused to
accept for return. It turned out that the primary reason for
trying to return the plate stock was that they had modified
their design of the B-70 and they no longer needed that

expensive plate. TIMET accepted the return of the
perfectly good plate based on “sales provisions.”

Ultimately, two B-70’s were built and flown to Mach 3
speeds. One crashed through a misfortune during a

filming session. The other was retired and on display at
the USAF museum at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio.