AMT Day, RAA, and More

Next week Monday May 24, Charles Taylor’s birthday, is now known as Aviation Maintenance Technician – AMT Day. Charles Edward Taylor began his aviation career working as a machinist for Orville and Wilbur Wright at the Wright Cycle Company in Dayton, Ohio. He earned a place in aviation history along with the Wright brothers and eventually became known as "The Father of Aircraft Maintenanceâ€. Over the past few years there have been picnics and celebrations at aircraft maintenance facilities, airlines, schools, FBOs, corporate aircraft maintenance departments and more, to commemorate the Father of Aircraft Maintenance and the Aircraft Maintenance Technician. I know of a few local celebrations in my area and plan to attend at least one of them. Is your organization planning an AMT Day celebration? If so please send me a short note with the name of your company and a couple photos. Thanks. Next week is the Regional Airline Association’s RAA 2010 Convention. This year’s convention is being held in Milwaukee Wisconsin. A review of the schedule of events shows there are forums planned for maintenance, operations, dispatch, safety, security, dangerous goods, and more. The Keynote Speaker on Wednesday is the NTSB Chair Dedorah Hersman. The RAA Maintenance Forum is scheduled for Tuesday morning for you regional airline maintenance types - are any of you planning on attending? This week I visited with the fine folks at Modern Aero and ASI Jet Center which is located at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie Minnesota. I was able to speak with many of the technicians and staff while there. Later on I visited MSP Jet Center, which is a maintenance repair station and part of the Modern Aero family of aircraft businesses, and was also introduced to one of the Avionics Supervisors at a small avionics repair station by the name of MSP Aero. Both of these groups are located at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. These were easy visits as they are all located in my backyard. Thanks for the time and it was great meeting all of you! Whenever possible during my travels I’ve been making time to stop and visit a variety of aircraft maintenance organizations – both small and large. I plan to continue to visit as many aircraft maintenance groups as possible, and to mention the places I’ve been and highlight the people and I’ve had the opportunity to meet. I can’t meet everyone - but hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to meet many of you aircraft maintenance professionals. Keep ‘em flying, Ron