Page 83 - MY STORY

decided that my curiosity would remain internalized. I did

get called to a local machine shop that was having some
trouble machining a large titanium alloy forging and was
asked for help on machining parameters for the higher

strength alloys. The forging looked like a landing gear
element and the customer’s name on the purchase order
was not a recognized airframe company. It was not the

same company name as the one we had for all that sheet.
So, by now you might have guessed that the company
was Lockheed, Burbank Division’s Skunk Works. They

were building the A-12/SR-71.

President Lyndon Johnson opened up the window on that
program several years later. It was, and still is, the fastest,
highest flying air-breathing jet-powered aircraft ever built
by this nation. It was an all titanium airframe, where at

Mach 3, the skin temperatures would reach into the 700
degrees F range. It was November 1960. GOODBYE

TIMET! It was a good company, with substantial, highly
capable, ethical people. Another fork in the road - taken.