Flexial employees welcomed Lt. Brandon Huff, a native Cookevillian and United States Air Force pilot flying F-15 fighter aircraft. Lt. Huff toured Flexial and observed the fabrication processes to manufacture the aneroid bellows assemblies that control the F-100-229 engine. Two F-100 engines power the F-15 and one drives the F-16. Lt. Huff showed strong interest in the details of the microscopic welding and other steps that convert stainless steel the thickness of a sheet of paper into a flexible, corrugated metallic bellows and controls.

In his presentation to Flexial's employees, Lt. Huff explained some of the characteristics of the aircraft and maneuvers. "Midair refueling," he pointed out, "is never fun and carries its own potential hazards." The closeness of the refueling probe to the cockpit demands precise flying. Nevertheless, it is a frequent and unavoidable maneuver, and is why the Air Force invests so much training in its pilots. Close formation, wingtip to wingtip, is another arduous task that requires intense concentration to not endanger the wingman. Lt. Huff was particularly complimentary of the Pratt & Whitney engines, stating that they are powerful and reliable and pose virtually no problems. He closed with questions and answers and then joined Flexial's engineers for a catered lunch and further technical discussion. Lt. Huff impressed Flexial's engineers with the extent of his U.S. Air Force training and his broad knowledge of the technical aspects of the aircraft and its systems.

Flexial strives to associate its highly technical products with the people who use them. Components that fly in spacecraft and aircraft and someday will be implanted in humans we cannot treat merely as another piece of engineered technology. While they are certainly that, they are more: Real people place their trust in our products; so do their families. Our national security rides on their reliability. We are proud of this. Personifying our bellows products adds an element of quality that is both hard to define and hard to deny.