I'm a little confused... Do you make tools?
I have a machine shop out back. I'll buy what I can, when I can. But most of the time I end up having to fabricate what I need. There's not a lot of off-the-shelf parts and materials available for some of the technologies I work with on a regular basis.
Yeah, I am an astro engineer student at embry, and private pilot right now. Hoping to transfer to the air force academy though.
The air force can be a great career choice. I spent most of my career working as a contractor for the DoD, the majority of that on classified projects for the air force. I was involved in the directed energy technologies program, which was later declassified, as the "strategic defense initiative" aka "star wars". I was involved in the stealth program, and many other projects/programs that I can't go into because they are still classified.
One advantage of having this level of access is I get to buy some really great govt surplus hardware. Technologies that the public is not allowed to see, let alone bid on. While general aviation is still widely using antique technology, ie radar, the military has much better technology at their disposal. Technology capable of detecting and identifying stealthy/cloaked aircraft for example.
I'm semi-retired so I mostly do R&D now. Some ends up in products taken to market, some technologies are too advanced to go public. I also still do DoD contracts from time to time.
I was in china because europe and asia wants to employ my technology for the auto industries. I had to be there to supervise testing at govt labs, and to take a look at the various manufacturing capabilities. I'm a very big proponent of "Made in the USA", so all of my products sold in the USA are made here. But the products for the european and asian markets will be made in those countries. I will not export from the USA because this country penalizes businesses too much. I license technologies for others to manufacture and market.
Bob