Submitted by ghostsniper in response to Jean’s “Microscopic Welder”

Funny, I did work for Lockheed briefly in 1980 when I worked for Martin-Marietta in Torrance Calif making more money than a single dood should be allowed.

It wasn’t microscopic though, quite the opposite. Using a gantry I loaded 72′ long aluminum wing spars into a 750 ton stretcher and stretched them about 6 inches longer then they were. The explanation given to me was, that when aluminum molecules are stretched they become oval shaped and fit tighter together making them stronger.

An inked benchmark was applied to the surface of the spar and after it was stretched it was measured with a big micrometer and the increased length had to be within a certain range. Sometimes 2 or 3 stretches were required.

After the stretch the spas were loaded into huge train box cars and the cars were pushed into huge ovens and baked at 1440 degrees for 2-3 weeks constant. Supposedly stretching the aluminum makes the spars stronger but also makes them brittle and susceptible to cracking under stress, like when wings “wave” (flex) during flight. When the spars are baked it is similar to ageing and ageing makes aluminum more flexible. Thus, over time (ageing) the aluminum will become such (stressed) that it is not safe to be flown.

At the time I was in a probationary period of 3 months with the steelworkers union and they stipulate you cannot miss work without prior approval. You can’t just call in beforehand and say you’re not coming in. You have to have advanced approval. Well, on the evening of 09Jul80, 2 hours before my graveyard shift was going to start, my mother called and told me my dad in Fort Myers, FL had died and the funeral was in 3 days….

I called my job and explained the situation and that I was going to get a flight out that night. I was told that my message would be passed to my supervisor but I was not given “permission” to leave on the spot.

I skied out of LAX at 1:05am to FM, FL not knowing if I would have a job when I came back. I came back 5 days later and I had been fired. I bummed around for a couple months and tried to find another job but I got down to my last $100 and bought a ticket on the “dog” for 5 days of fun and adventure, back to FM, FL.

It wasn’t all dark shadows bounced off lunar eclipses. Just south of Tampa in a little place named Nokomis a beautiful blonde girl named Rose got on the bus and her and me hit it off immediately. I was going to Fort Myers and she was going 50 miles south to Naples. When the bus stopped at FM I didn’t get off. Her and me lived together for the next 6 months and then tragedy set in. I never heard from her again. Every Nov 5th I think about her cause that was her birthday.

She was a blinding ray of sunlight on a colorless dark night and I never really got over her. I looked her up on the web a few years ago and found out she died in a car crash in 2002.