Online Effort To Commemorate Charles Edward Taylor

Mechanics get no respect. Take, for instance, the man who built and maintained the motor on the airplane that made man's first powered flight.

May 24th is the birthday of Charles Edward Taylor, the first aircraft mechanic who designed and built the engine that powered the Wright Flyer into history. Now, there's a nationwide move afoot to remember Aircraft Maintenance Day on Taylor's birthday.

Joe Escobar, editor of Aircraft Maintenance Technology Magazine, worked closely with Wisconsin State Representative David Ward, along with Richard Dilbeck, a safety program manager for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to get the 2003 Assembly to pass Joint Resolution 28.

"Charles Taylor is an unsung hero whose achievements and importance have been overlooked until now," says Escobar. "Although just about every child knows Orville and Wilbur Wright, most have never heard of Charles Edward Taylor and we hope to change that."

On April 30, 1903, at the Wright Brother's bicycle shop in Dayton (OH), Charles Taylor began working on the first engine built for Orville and Wilbur Wright's airplane named "The Flyer." Mr. Taylor pioneered uncharted theories of engine design by using only a lathe and drill press to construct a 4-cylinder piston engine weighing 179 pounds and producing 12 horsepower -- a feat accomplished in just six weeks.

On the morning of December 17, 1903, at the base of Kill Devil Hills (NC), south of the village of Kitty Hawk, the Wright Brothers made aviation history by successfully flying the first powered airplane. This achievement would not have been possible if it were not for Charles Edward Taylor, the man responsible for designing, building, and maintaining their engine.

FMI: www.amtonline.com