GOP debate fact check: Was Marco Rubio right about welders vs. philosophers?

[Plucketeer]

49. An interesting "aside" to your specialty welder argument....

There was a prototype fighter plane developed during WWII - one of many that never got into production. The particular plane I'm talking of here, is the XP-56 - nicknamed the Black Bullet because of it's bullet-shaped fuselage. Only two of these were ever built and weird flight characteristics kept them from being produced for combat.

What's curious is that these planes used more magnesium in their structure than most aircraft of the day. And Northrup developed special techniques for welding the stuff - which if you know about it, seems a bit crazy given the way magnesium will blaze once it's set alight!
So here we are, 75 years later and one of the Black Bullets that's survived to this day (it was retained by the Smithsonian after WWII) is in need of restoration. Trouble is - after all these years since that specialized welding know-how was devised - they can't find anyone who knows how to do it today so that restoration of the XP-56 can commence!