As the Director for the Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Association I am dedicated in promoting the proud craft & profession of today's skilled AMTs. In doing so I have been able to lend my energy to other endeavors to achieve the goal of raising the public's awareness of who Charles E. Taylor was and the men and women that have followed in his footsteps.

One of these endeavors is my position as a Director for an organization called the AMT Society, WWW.AMTSOCIETY.ORG. Being a Director for the AMT Society I have been given the opportunity to help create the AMT Society's "Maintenance Skills Competition". On March 10 - 12th, 2009 at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the Aviation Industry Expo we held our Second Annual MSC.

The Maintenance Skills Competition was created to provide a platform and format whereby today's professional AMTs can compete head-to-head against each other in events that highlight just some of the many responsibilities that each and every AMT carries. The MSC is open to any licensed A&P Mechanic, any student enrolled in an FAA Part 147 school and any member of the United States Armed Forces involved in the aircraft maintenance field.

The Maintenance Skills Competition was not created to promote one group of AMTs over another. Just the opposite! The MSC allows the public to see first hand exactly what today's and tomorrow's AMTs do in order to provide safe, airworthy aircraft. Teams of competing AMTs consisted of 5 AMTs each; four AMTs physically competed and one acted as the team's Coach. The Coach did not physically compete but assisted with handing of tools and helping with any maintenance manuals and references necessary for each event. The 2009 MSC consisted of 12 different events, with 11 being given 20 minutes to complete and 1 being given 40 minutes to complete. Penalties were assessed in the form of time infractions. The total amount of time used to complete each event plus any time penalties were added together and the team with the lowest combined time from all 12 events was awarded 1st, 2nd & 3rd place awards. There were 15 teams competing in four categories.

All 15 teams that competed were the epitome of what today's professional AMT is. As the Chairman for the 2009 MSC I am proud of the way both professional and student AMTs performed and portrayed our proud craft & profession.

The teams that competed were:

American Airlines

American Eagle

Continental Airlines

Crimson College

Aviation Institute of Maintenance

United States Navy

United States Air Force

The pictures above were taken at the AMTSociety's 2nd Annual MSC. In the Commercial Category Continental Airlines Team CLE was awarded 1st place, Continental Airlines Team IAH/HOBBY was awarded 2nd place and American Airlines Team American (LGA) was awarded 3rd place. In the School Category AIM ATL Campus was awarded 1st place, AIM Team USA was awarded 2nd place and Crimson College was awarded 3rd place. In the Military Category the USAF Team McGuire AFB was awarded 1st place, USAF Team McCord AFB was awarded 2nd place and the USN Team Fleet Readiness Center Southwest was awarded 3 rd place. In the General Aviation Category the Colorado Aeronautic Division DOT Team Colorado was awarded 1 st place. A timing criteria was used to determine who was awarded 1st, 2nd & 3rd place awards. There were no losers in this competition because all the participants are professionals displaying the knowledge, skill & integrity that are the basis of being aviation's true "Faces Behind Safety".

The events were created and judged by the following leaders in the aircraft maintenance community.

1: Safety Wiring Event- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

2: Hard Ware Identification Event- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

3: Avionic Troubleshooting Event- CAE SimuFlite

4: Electrical Troubleshooting Event- Nida Corporation

5: Avionic Troubleshooting Event- Spirit Avionics

6: Charles E. Taylor Written Test- AMTA

7: Aileron Flight Control Rigging Event- Continental Airlines

8: G IV Main Wheel/Brake Event- Alberth Aviation

9: APU Event- Dallas Airmotive

10: Turbine Engine Event- American Airlines

11: Composite Panel Inspection Event- Tarrant County College

12 : Regulatory Paperwork Research- ATP