GTC Knives Sole Authorship Airborne SLT, CPM-M4 San Mai, 7-Alloy Frame, Ironwood

The wildest build of Gustavo Thome Cecchini's Airborne, the model that Gus used to debut the GTC Spring Loaded Tab SLT Flipper. This is a recent full dress+ build from 2021. Fit and finish is spot on perfect. Gus has been an industry leader for decades.

Gus taught Peter Rassenti how to make integrals. He coached Grimsmo and Sharp By Design in their early days and has his focus on innovation like G&G Hawk. His work is on the level of Tom Mayo, Tashi Bharucha, Stan Wilson, Michael Burch, and Jeremy Marsh. The blade and frame are sole authorship, GTC-forged composites. The blade is a CPM-M4 core san mai that's been blued to color the M4 core blurple, while leaving the jacket steel bright gold.

The flats were given a clean mirror hand satin. The handle is made from a GTC forged 7-alloy titanium/zirconium composite (Black Timascus and Zircuti are usually 3-alloy). The interior is extensive milled for weight reduction and diagonal mirrored vents are cut into both sides.

The frame is also clamshell construction, meaning that thicker blocks of material were milled down to make the sides. The backspacer is partially integral to each. The 2 sides are connected by a thin piece of crowned and polished black zirconium. The frame is also slightly faceted to give it the effect in hand of contouring.

It is using Gus's Inter-Framelock, bolstered with inlays of polished presentation-grade desert ironwood. The lockbar, including the tab used for unlocking it, is cut from the middle the same slab as the lockside. All machining is cleanly done and best-in-class.