Charles Taylor was a self-taught mechanic who hand-built the first airplane engine after many automakers rejected the Wright Brothers' requests to build one for them.
The San Diego-based Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Association raised $6,000 to have the bronze bust made and displayed at the museum.Founder of the association, Ken MacTiernan, said, "Charlie was a very humble person, never sought the limelight and over history, history kind of forgot the men and women behind the scenes who maintained the aircraft.
Besides the engine on that famous plane, Charles Taylor was also the first airport manager, beginning at Dayton's Huffman Prairie where the Wright brothers perfected controlled flight. He also was the first mechanic of a cross-country flight and the 49-day flight from New York to Los Angeles in 1911.
Someone I Had Never Heard of before. --Cooter
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