IN PRAISE OF THE FORGOTTEN MECHANIC

Through the history of world aviation many names have come to the fore... Great deeds of the past in our memory will last, as they are joined by more and more& when man first started his labor in his quest to conquer the sky he was the designer, mechanic and pilot, and he built a machine that would fly...
But somehow the order got twisted, and then in the publics eye the only man that could be seen was the man that knew how to fly...
The pilot was everyones hero, he was brave, he was grand, as he stood by his battered old biplane with his goggles and helmet in hand... To be sure these pilots all earned it, to fly you have to have guts... And they blazed their names in the hall of fame on wings with baling wire struts...
But for each of these flying heroes, there was thousands of little renown, and these were the men who worked on the planes.., but kept their feet on the ground...
We all know the name of Lindbergh, and weve read of his flight to fame... But think if you can, of his maintenance man. Can you remember his name?
And think of the wartime heros, Gabreskl, Jabara, and Scott... Can you tell me the names of their crew chiefs? A thousand to one that you cannot...
Now pilots are highly trained people, and wings are not easily won... But without the work of the maintenance man... our pilots would march with a gun...
So when you see the mighty aircraft as they mark their way through the air, the greased stained man with the wrench in his hand is the man who put them there..