Could we have afforded TSR2 though?
Machining parts from solid billits of titanium is a damned expensive way to build any mechanical structure, especially when you (in some components) can get close to a 90% wastage rate before you account for quality control rejects.
It was one of the things that did for Westland a few years later: uncontrolled titanium wastage from the machining was completely unbudgeted for, simply because no-one had ever needed to account for raw material losses before. Aluminium and alloy was so cheap in comparison, that the wastage costs were relatively trivial and no-one thought to look at the costs
Westland lost out also because the scrap was nicked and passed on the the local caravan dwellers, but even if it had been recycled legitimately there still would have been a huge loss. Teledyne Wah Chang Albany weren't keen on taking it back, and paid a pittance for it.
I've often wondered whether the same error was initially made with TSR2, with no-one anticipating just how high the scrap rate would be from the maching processes
Last edited by Milo Minderbinder; 27th Dec 2012 at 18:02.