Recognition

There are several ways of recognizing the efforts of individual aviation professionals these days. For technicians a couple well-known achievement awards are the FAA Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award for achieving 50 years in aircraft maintenance, and the General Aviation Awards program which annually recognizes the efforts and achievements of an individual Aircraft Maintenance Technician and an Avionics Technician. My associate Tom Hendershot, executive director of the AMTSociety International, was recently inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame. What a dedicated individual Tom is. You can read about this achievement on AMTOnline so I won’t repeat all of his history. Tom is also a recipient of the Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award. After spending his lifetime working in aviation in a variety of both flying and maintenance related roles, he then became the executive director of the AMTSociety International. Obviously he is a driven individual and passionate about aviation. Last month while attending the National Business Aviation (NBAA) Maintenance Committee Meeting at the 2010 NBAA Annual Convention, mention was made of the National Aviation Hall of Fame and a later discussion took place regarding the need to further recognize those people who have worked in aircraft maintenance roles, whether it’s a state or national hall of fame organization, a company recognition award, an FAA Master Mechanic Award recipient, a GA Awards Program recipient, or any other recognition effort. While speaking with an FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) member recently I was surprised and disappointed to hear him say how very few GA Awards program submissions for the maintenance and avionics technician awards had been received by that particular FAA office prior to the deadline. How many aircraft maintenance people do you know that have been recognized for their involvement and dedication to aviation? Just how many technical people have received awards or recognition? We should all (me included) take these achievement awards more seriously and do our part by submitting recognition award applications for aircraft maintenance technicians or for that matter anyone who has contributed to the industry or dedicated a lifetime to aircraft maintenance. Keep ‘em flying, Ron