"Ragnar" wrote in message
...

"w.a. manning" wrote in message
om...
$$$

despite it's relative abundance, titanium is very difficult (and thus
costly) to manufacture and machine.

Exactly. The reason the Soviets used it is because the Ministry of
Defense
got everything it wanted in the 2 and 5-year plans. Money was literally
no
object for them.

But the point was that they did NOT use it, at least in aircraft production,
back when the US was already beginning to do so. And IIRC, that was largely
because they had not yet developed the ability to work with it as we did
(which is why stainless steel was instead used more by the USSR instead of
titanium).

Brooks