Happy 20th Anniversary AMT magazine! Twenty years of writing about and for AMTs is quite an accomplishment. I wish you another 20 years of success. Anniversaries are a time to not only celebrate a special occasion but to take that time to reflect on the previous year and also to look ahead.
Much has happened to AMTs over the past 20 years with the advance in technology and the training needed to stay lock step with this technology. Some changes have been rapid and some have been slow. But one thing has remained a steady constant over the past 20 years and that is the professionalism of the AMT. The AMTs of 20 years ago, like those who came 20 years before them, and so on, have diligently raised the standards by which the AMT craft and profession holds itself to.
The AMTs of the past have been the stewards for a proud craft that started more than 100 years ago. These skilled men and women are throughout the aircraft maintenance community and have touched everything from commercial, military, civil, corporate, general, experimental, and special category aircraft. These men and women have always been professional and provided an environment for the next generation of AMTs to embrace and in turn continue to elevate and protect well-developed standards that a brotherhood of craftsmen hold dear.
But what of the perspective of the public that is placed on the AMT craft over the past 20 years? AMT magazine has done a great job of writing about the A&P technician but has the entertainment media? Anyone remember Lowell from the TV show “Wings”? Lowell Mather was portrayed as a lovable, bumbling back water joker. There was the actor Red West from the TV show “Baa Baa Black Sheep” who was always yelling at “those college kids” who ruined his aircraft. And of course there was George Kennedy’s character Joe Patroni from AIRPORT.
These characters painted a picture of the AMT that is not exactly professional. Yes, these characters were intelligent and got the job done. But as they say, “image is everything.” OK, I know image is not everything; there is a whole lot more to looking pretty. But educating the public of the necessary qualities to be able to do the right thing is a challenge. And this challenge is being met by AMTs across the profession.
AMT Day
Ever since Orville and Wilbur Wright passed away, the first aircraft mechanic, Charles E. Taylor, has been forgotten by the mainstream public. However, over the past seven years efforts have been made to raise the public’s awareness of the knowledge, skill, and integrity each and every AMT possesses. This has been, and continues to be done by the introduction and passing of state resolutions that honor Taylor’s birthday of May 24 as AMT Day. This idea was the brain child of Richard Dilbeck, aka “Dilly,” a humble AMT.
Thanks to Dilly’s efforts in 2002 California passed the first state AMT Day Resolution. The Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Association (AMTA), www.AMTAUSA.com, followed Dilly’s passion and together, with AMTs from across the nation, has been working on having all 50 United States, commonwealths, and territories introduce and pass similar resolutions. To date 51 resolutions have been passed recognizing their respective AMTs.
Each year AMT Day is growing in recognition and scope. Many companies, both big and small, are using May 24 to thank their highly skilled AMT work force for the tremendous job they do throughout the year. Celebrations range from barbecues with a blue grass band as is held each year at Baker’s School of Aeronautics in Tennessee to a barbecue and mini-skills competition like the one held at American Airlines’ DFW hangars. The AMTA, with Maryann DeMarco, has been able to have Congress introduce and pass a Congressional AMT Day Resolution. Efforts are underway to have a Senate version passed.
Charles Taylor statues
The perspective of the AMT craft as being a professional, skilled craft has over the past seven years been furthered by the donation of bronze busts of Charles E. Taylor to organizations and companies throughout the aviation community. To date there are bronze busts of the first aircraft mechanic on display at American Airline’s three main overhaul bases, The San Diego Aerospace Museum, Wright State University, Southwest Airlines’ Dallas Headquarters, the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, and Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Busts are planned for the U.S. Air Force Academy and the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum. There is also a bust on display at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, which the University had commissioned.
Maintenance Skills Competition
The exciting Maintenance Skills Competition (MSC) which the AMTSociety, www.AMTSociety.org, presents at each Aviation Industry Expo is another form of recognition for the AMT. The MSC is an event where teams of AMTs compete against each other in 12 events that highlight just some of the many responsibilities today’s AMT utilize to ensure safe, airworthy aircraft.
The MSC enables the public and media, to see first hand the knowledge, skill, and integrity that is needed by today’s AMT. With just two MSC held to date, the third annual MSC is scheduled for March 16 to 18, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV. The MSC has grown from nine teams competing in the first MSC in 2008 to 15 teams in 2009, and more than 20 teams, in five different categories, are scheduled to compete in 2010 with international teams competing.
So, as you can see, the perception of today’s AMT by the public and entertainment media is slowly changing. The 20-year leadership of AMT magazine keeps the AMT craft in the forefront of our industry. Anniversaries are important dates but they mean little if the 364 days between each anniversary are not kept professional with a diligence that enables us to truly “Remember the Past – Think of the Future.”
Ken MacTiernan is an AMTSociety director and AMTA director.
