Credits for Aircraft Maintenance Engineer History Project
No one can complete a short history of Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs) in Canada without help from many sources, new and old, and colleagues. The material I have posted here on my site is derived from many sources dating back to the twenties, thirties and on and from personal experience. Therefore it is not possible to acknowledge all sources except in general terms. One great source was the book, “Voyageurs of the Air”; a work compiled under the Federal Ministry of Transport (Transport Canada) to commemorate the 100th birthday of Canada in 1967. I want to celebrate and commend those Transport Canada managers, leaders and staff who had the foresight to create such a thing and the books authors. Hopefully, the 200TH birthday will see someone write a book on the current 100 years. I also need to acknowledge the support of the National Association of the various Regional Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Associations across Canada who helped me in many ways over the years. Specifically under the leadership of Ben McCarty who assisted in providing funds to digitize a large amount of the information. I also thank numerous Aircraft Maintenance Engineers who provided their personal stories, some of which may have already visited this site.
This work started as a project to help train Airworthiness Inspectors who are now called Aviation Safety Maintenance Inspectors in the current Transport Canada. I noticed that there was little information available that told the story of how and why Aircraft Maintenance Engineers existed and how they are licensed. Credit goes to my Transport Canada headquarter peers and supervisors who allowed me to putter away collecting and compiling data wherever I could. This included items due to be shredded as old records were cleaned out. Such individuals as Dr.G.F.Marsters, Director of Airworthiness; Brigadier General (Rtd) J.A.Torck, also a Director for Airworthiness; John Mew, Senior Policy Advisor who for many years held regulatory responsibility for Aircraft Maintenance Engineers in Canada; D.T.Berg, Regional Manager Airworthiness and Engineering, Ontario Region; Don Spruceton, Art LaFlamme and Merlin Preuss, Director Generals of Civil Aviation for Canada. In my Western Canada Regional career Don Douglas, Western Region Director General, Scott Broughton, Regional Director General, Prairie and Northern Region and for the last 8 years of my work life, David Murray, Regional Director General, Prairie and Northern Region. These people encouraged and supported my efforts to save and preserve information and stories relating to Aircraft Maintenance Engineers.
I acknowledge much work that was done by June Smith, Shawna Peterson, Wendy Hyslop and Judy Plamondon, and Marlene Laschuk – White who worked in the Winnipeg Transport Technical Reference center and assisted me by saving AME data. Joan Kristofferson and Rose Rozmus who taught me how to use word!! Tony Soulis, Past president Canadian Aviation Historical Society and Brian Whitehead both retired Transport Canada Chiefs who held various responsibilities for Aircraft Maintenance Engineer licensing and training in Canada and are such a great source of information and assistance. Bill Zuc, a national aviation writer who assisted me to transition to life after Transport and who has been of invaluable assistance in teaching me how to write. Any mistakes are mine. Thanks also to Jim Bell and Danielle Chenail-Metcalfe who have encouraged me by their example, Jim by leading the Canadian Aviation Historical Society Chapter in Manitoba and Danielle by her accomplished aviation writing and CAHS leadership.
Last, but certainly not least, a great deal of appreciation to my loving wife Gerry, who constantly encouraged me to push on with my research and writing when the going got tough. Without her much needed support, guidance, and tireless proofing of numerous drafts and versions – this project may never have materialized.