Ken MacTiernan - Above and Beyond Award Winner

When it came time to chose the recipient of D.O.M. magazine’s inaugural Above and Beyond Award, one name quickly rose to the surface. We are proud to announce that Ken MacTiernan has received our 2012 Above and Beyond Award. A plaque was presented to MacTiernan. He will also receive a BK6000 digital borescope that was generously donated by Snap-on Industrial.

MacTiernan volunteers his time to several industry efforts, all while juggling a family with a 5 year old daughter in Kindergarten, a 3 1/2 year old son, a very supportive wife and a full time job at American Airlines working as a line AMT. He is a volunteer board member of AMTSociety and spearheads its annual Maintenance Skills Competition. MacTiernan is the founder and director of the Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Association (AMTA), a non-profit 501(C)6 organization that he created.

Why did MacTiernan decide to form AMTA? “I have Dilly [Richard Dilbeck] to thank for that,” he says. “In 2002, when he got the first resolution passed in California marking May 24, the birth date of Charles E. Taylor as AMT Day, I read an article about it, and was embarrassed that I didn’t know who Taylor was. There I was, working as an aircraft mechanic and I didn’t have any knowledge of who the first aircraft mechanic was. The more I learned, the more I wanted to help spread the word about Taylor and all he did, while also promoting the professionalism of our craft. I thought, ‘Why wait for someone else?’ I decided to launch AMTA to help promote our craft to the general public.”

MacTiernan and AMTA worked with Dilly to help get AMT Day resolutions passed in other states. Dilly and MacTiernan also launched an effort to get a National AMT Day resolution passed. They initiated contact with state congressman Bob Filner who agreed to sponsor the bill in Congress. Through years of dedication and perseverance, a National AMT Day resolution was passed in 2008.

AMTA’s continuing efforts to promote Taylor include donations of bronze busts of Taylor to museums and aviation venues. We asked MacTiernan how that idea got started. “I have Fred Mergle from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to thank for that,” he says. “Mergle had commissioned artist Virgina Hess to create a bust of Taylor that he could place in the aviation department at Embry-Riddle. Even though Embry-Riddle had spent the money to commission Hess to create the bust, he offered to let me purchase additional busts from Hess for just her cost. I contacted Virginia and she told me that each bust of Taylor would cost $6,000.”

That price seemed like a huge amount of money to raise to MacTiernan, but he was determined to purchase a bust and have it placed in the San Diego Air & Space Museum at Balboa Park. Through the hard work by him and other volunteers, enough money was raised (including an additional $2,300 needed to host a ceremony at the museum) to dedicate a bust to the museum on Dec.18, 2005.

MacTiernan then set his sights higher. He wanted to get a bust of Taylor placed at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum in Washington, D.C. He contacted the museum and found out that the costs associated with the dedication would be significantly higher than the money he needed to raise for the San Diego Air & Space Museum dedication. “I thought I’d never get the pledges,” he says. “But I decided to try. The first person I contacted was Jennifer Baker, and she generously pledged $3,000 towards the effort. We were off to a great start.”

Thanks to AMTA’s efforts, a bust of Taylor was dedicated at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on Aug. 11, 2006. Numerous other bust dedications have been made. since then.

Recently, MacTiernan and AMTA led an effort to get Taylor’s name placed on the Smithsonian’s Wall of Honor. In just a short amount of time, he was able to get pledges totaling more than $10,000 to have Taylor’s name placed in one-inch lettering on the wall (the largest lettering available). This effort ensures Taylors name is forever among other aviation pioneers.

MacTiernan is now setting his sights on getting a bust and a kiosk honoring Taylor and all Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic award recipients placed in the Smithsonian Air & Space museum on the mall in Washington, D.C. The planning is in its initial stages, but if you would like to learn how you can help or would like to pledge some money towards the effort, you can contact MacTiernan at jetdr@san.rr.com. You can also follow AMTA’s efforts by liking its Facebook page, Friends of Charles E. Taylor.