When Patricia “Pat” Hange received the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 2000, she made aviation history as the first certificated woman aircraft mechanic to receive the FAA honor. But the award represented much more than a milestone for women in aviation—it recognized a hands-on maintenance career that began shortly after World War II and continued for more than half a century.

Hange got her start at an airport in Willoughby, Ohio, fueling airplanes and helping mechanics before spending 10 years inspecting aircraft parts for Thompson Products. She earned her Airframe mechanic certificate in 1964, added her Powerplant rating in 1974, and earned Inspection Authorization in 1978. She became particularly well known for her expertise in fabric work and aircraft maintenance and was one of only a handful of women holding an IA at the time.

In 1962, Hange and fellow aviator Harriet Hamilton established Lenox Flight School, eventually moving the operation to Florida. Hamilton handled much of the powered-aircraft instruction and towing while Hange became the operation’s mechanic and glider instructor. Their partnership lasted approximately four decades. Along the way, Hange maintained and rebuilt aircraft, taught students to fly, became a designated glider examiner, and earned a reputation throughout Florida’s soaring community for her mechanical expertise.

The FAA presented Hange with the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award on August 29, 2000, recognizing 50 years of aviation maintenance. She was later inducted into the Soaring Hall of Fame. Hange’s career helped open doors in a profession where women were once exceedingly rare, but perhaps the best description of her motivation came from Hange herself: working on aircraft was simply her “big joy.” Her lifetime of craftsmanship, instruction, and dedication to aviation safety made that passion a lasting contribution to the maintenance profession.
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Sources: Federal Aviation Administration; National Soaring Museum; Aviation Pros/AMT.

Phil Randall’s career began with maintaining Marine Corps aircraft and grew into a broader mission to improve aviation safety. Following his military service, he worked with airlines and maintenance organizations before advancing to senior leadership within the Federal Aviation Administration.

At the FAA, Randall’s responsibilities included airworthiness, technician training, accident prevention, and human factors. His work supported aviation safety throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. His career achievements included receiving the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award, recognizing his place among the profession’s distinguished senior mechanics.

Randall has also carried his commitment to service into preserving Marine Corps history. In 2026, the Carolina Museum of the Marine announced his election to its board of directors. His support includes a $100,000 pledge for the museum’s historic Huey helicopter exhibit, connecting his aviation background with an opportunity to educate future visitors. Source: Carolina Museum of the Marine
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PAMA recognizes Randall’s contributions to maintenance, safety education, and public service. His career illustrates the many ways maintenance professionals can influence aviation—from caring for individual aircraft to strengthening training and preserving the stories behind the machines.

Louis “Jack” Terrill built his aviation maintenance career on an impressive variety of aircraft, from military bombers and transports to general aviation airplanes, turboprops, seaplanes, and antique aircraft. His more than 50 years in aviation reflect the versatility and adaptability that have long defined the maintenance profession.

Terrill entered the U.S. Air Force in 1961, working on hydraulic and pneumatic systems aboard B-52 and KC-135 aircraft at Loring Air Force Base in Maine. Following his military service, he worked for LTV Electro Systems in Texas on aircraft including the C-123, C-124, C-130, and C-133. He earned his Airframe and Powerplant certificate in 1970 and later received his Inspection Authorization.

In 1971, Terrill opened Terrill Aviation at Hobbs-Lea County Airport in New Mexico. For the next 27 years, the business provided aircraft maintenance along with fuel sales, flight instruction, aircraft sales, and charter operations. Terrill maintained piston and turboprop aircraft and restored several antiques, including the L-5, L-16, and T-34. Later opportunities took his maintenance expertise to Alaska, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Vermont, where his experience expanded to include de Havilland Beaver and Otter seaplanes and additional restoration projects.

Terrill received the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 2012 for his lifetime of service to general aviation. Throughout his career, he also shared his knowledge with aspiring mechanics working toward FAA-required maintenance training. His story reflects the lasting impact of a career mechanic—not only through the aircraft kept safely in the air, but through the skills and standards passed along to those who follow.
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Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Bob Hays’s aviation journey began with flight lessons at a small airport in Phillipsburg, Kansas, in 1967. His curiosity soon extended beyond the cockpit to the maintenance that makes flight possible. After serving in the Kansas Army National Guard, he completed aircraft maintenance training and earned his FAA mechanic certificate in 1975.

His career included positions with Air Midwest Airlines, Cessna Aircraft Company, Ameriflight, and Yingling Aviation. At Yingling, Hays earned Inspection Authorization in 2010 and served as quality assurance manager until retiring in 2017. He also became involved with the B-29 Doc program, contributing his experience as an inspector and volunteer mechanic.

On November 21, 2023, Hays received both the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award and the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award at the B-29 Doc Hangar, Education and Visitors Center. Doc’s maintenance leadership credited his knowledge and attention to detail with providing valuable oversight of the aircraft’s maintenance. Source: B-29 Doc
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PAMA celebrates Hays’s dedication to aviation maintenance and historic aircraft preservation. His story demonstrates how the experience accumulated over a working lifetime can continue serving aviation long after retirement, helping another generation encounter history in flight.

Wilson Dale Crane's 60-year aviation career reached far beyond the aircraft he maintained. As a mechanic, engineer, educator, author, and consultant, Crane devoted much of his professional life to helping generations of aviation maintenance technicians develop the knowledge and skills needed to keep aircraft flying safely.

Crane's maintenance career began during World War II, when he served four years in the U.S. Navy as an Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class. He later studied aviation maintenance engineering at Parks Air College and earned his mechanic certificate in 1949. His career included work as an instrument overhaul mechanic and flight-test instrumentation engineer before he moved into aviation maintenance education. He eventually spent 14 years as an instructor and director of the Aviation Technician Program at LeTourneau College.

Education would become one of Crane's greatest contributions to the profession. Over his career, he authored approximately 80 technical books, wrote articles for aviation publications, and developed training materials for organizations including Cessna, Bendix, and the U.S. Air Force. He also participated in FAA-sponsored research examining the aviation mechanic profession and the educational materials used in aviation maintenance technician schools. Crane was active in several professional organizations, including the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association and the Aviation Technician Education Council.

The FAA presented Crane with the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 1996, recognizing a career that ultimately totaled 60 years in aviation maintenance, engineering, education, and consulting. His legacy lives on in a particularly fitting way: through the countless technicians who learned the fundamentals of aviation maintenance from an instructor, textbook, or training resource shaped by his knowledge.
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Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Patrick Delahoussaye’s aviation career began with service in the U.S. Navy, including an assignment aboard the USS Intrepid with an antisubmarine helicopter squadron. Following active duty, he attended Spartan in Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduating in 1966 with his Airframe and Powerplant certificate. He later earned Inspection Authorization and completed a degree in aviation science.

Returning to Louisiana, Delahoussaye spent 23 years at Paul Fournet Air Service. His responsibilities grew from mechanic to shop foreman and chief inspector, and included managing a paint facility and helping establish a turbine shop. He later moved into engine support, technical sales, and aviation business leadership.

In 2010, Delahoussaye received the FAA’s Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. His service to the profession also included visiting maintenance schools as an ambassador for NBAA’s TRACS scholarship program and mentoring young A&Ps. His advice emphasized checking work, accepting another person’s review, and being honest about mistakes. Source: D.O.M. Magazine
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PAMA honors Delahoussaye’s contributions to aviation maintenance and the professionals who follow in his footsteps. His story illustrates how a mechanic’s influence can grow throughout a career—from work performed on an aircraft to guidance that helps another technician develop sound judgment and professional integrity.

For Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award recipient Marlin Priest, supporting aviation maintenance means helping others find their place in the profession. His contributions include helping establish the modern NBAA Maintenance Committee, serving as its chair, and expanding its training subcommittee. In a 2025 interview with Aviation Personnel International, Priest emphasized the responsibility experienced technicians have to teach and encourage newcomers. Source: Aviation Personnel International

Priest’s commitment to education extends beyond the hangar. As a member of Snead State Community College’s Aviation Program Advisory Board, he supported opportunities to prepare students for maintenance careers. During the college’s 2018 celebration of its aviation program, he spoke about the demand for qualified technicians and the importance of making training available in a community positioned for growth. Source: Snead State Community College

He has also promoted collaboration with Alabama museums and high schools to introduce young people to aviation. At NBAA’s 2019 Maintenance Conference, Priest highlighted those partnerships as part of the broader effort to help students discover career opportunities in business aviation. Source: NBAA
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PAMA recognizes Priest’s dedication to strengthening the profession through education and mentorship. His example offers a practical challenge to experienced maintenance professionals: share your knowledge, welcome new talent, and help the next generation build the skills and confidence that safe aviation requires.

For more than 50 years, Kent McMakin has dedicated his career to the craftsmanship required to maintain and restore historic aircraft. McMakin earned his Airframe and Powerplant certificate from Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1974, beginning a career that would make him a respected expert in antique aviation.

Over the decades, McMakin has restored more than 30 biplanes and developed particular expertise in Ryan aircraft. His career has included work on warbirds at the Weeks Air Museum in Florida as well as 34 years as an independent restoration and antique aircraft mechanic specializing in biplanes from the late 1920s. His work has helped preserve aircraft from an era when aviation was still defining what was possible.

Today, McMakin continues to put that experience to work at the Kelch Aviation Museum in Brodhead, Wisconsin, where he serves as the museum's go-to mechanic for keeping its historic aircraft airworthy. Several biplanes he restored are now part of the museum's collection, allowing visitors to experience aircraft that have survived nearly a century thanks in part to the skills of maintenance professionals dedicated to their preservation.

In September 2024, McMakin received the FAA's Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in recognition of 50 years of outstanding work in aviation maintenance. His career represents a particularly important part of the maintenance profession: preserving the knowledge, techniques, and craftsmanship necessary to keep aviation history not only on display, but in the air.
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Source: Kelch Aviation Museum.

For aviation maintenance professionals troubleshooting autopilot systems, Curt Campbell became a trusted resource over a career spanning five decades at Duncan Aviation. On March 11, 2026, the recently retired avionics component technical representative received the FAA’s Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award during a celebration in Lincoln, Nebraska. He became the first avionics repairman at Duncan Aviation to receive the distinction.

Campbell joined Duncan Aviation on May 19, 1975, as an avionics instrument technician specializing in flight control and Learjet ancillary systems. His early work included participating in test flights, giving him firsthand insight into how aircraft systems performed in flight and how flight crews experienced their operation.

As his career progressed, Campbell shared that knowledge with technicians and managers, delivered training at Aircraft Electronics Association conventions, and contributed to troubleshooting software, adapter designs, and test equipment. His colleagues remembered his patience, ability to explain complex problems, and determination to see a difficult troubleshooting job through to completion. Source: Duncan Aviation

PAMA celebrates Campbell’s achievement and the example he offers to the maintenance community. His career demonstrates the lasting value of specialized expertise and of experienced professionals who take the time to help others understand what they have learned.