A Tribute to
Aviation Maintenance Technicians

"A salute to the person with scarred knuckles
 and a heavy box of well kept tools.
 Your hands brought the airplane from a
 frail beginning to its rightful place as the
 thundering giant of modern transportation.
 Your skill is an accepted guarantee of safety
 both for pilots and passengers.
 Faith in your ability is a strong shield against
 fear of those dangers that must lurk in the high places.
 You bear the burden of absolute and unquestioning trust.
 Not much of the glamor of aviation falls your way.
 But you are big enough to shrug that off and put your
 integrity on the line,
 every time an aircraft leaves the ground.
 You are saluted whenever you practice your skills.
 You are the backbone of aviation."

The A & P Mechanic's Creed:
"UPON MY HONOR, I swear that I shall hold in sacred trust
 the rights and privileges conferred upon me as a
 certificated mechanic. Knowing full well that the safety
 and lives of others are dependent upon my skill and judgment,
 I shall never knowingly subject others to risks which I would
 not be willing to assume for myself, or for those dear to me.

"IN DISCHARGING this trust, I pledge myself never to
 undertake work or approve work which I feel to be beyond
 the limits of my knowledge; nor shall I allow any
 non-certificated superior to persuade me to approve aircraft
 or equipment as airworthy against my better judgment;
 nor shall I permit my judgment to be influenced by money
 or other personal gain; nor shall I pass as airworthy aircraft
 or equipment about which I am in doubt, either as a result of
 direct inspection or uncertainty regarding the ability of others
 who have worked on it to accomplish their work satisfactorily.

"I REALIZE the grave responsibility which is mine as a
 certificated airman, to exercise my judgment on the airworthiness
 of aircraft and equipment. I, therefore, pledge unyielding
 adherence to these precepts for the advancement of aviation
 and for the dignity of my vocation."

The following poem was deftly and unashamedly stolen from
HTTP://www.the-mechanic.com

THE FORGOTTEN MAN

Author Unknown

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're joined by more and more.

When the first man started his labor
in his quest to conquer the sky
He was a designer, mechanic and pilot,
and he built a machine that would fly.

The pilot was everyone's hero
He was bold, he was brave, he was grand,
As he stood by his battered old biplane
With his goggles in his hand.

But for each of our flying heroes
There were thousands 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 we've read of his flight into fame,
But think, if you can, of his maintenance man,
Can you remember his name?

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 jet aircraft
As they mark their path through the air,
The grease-stained man with the wrench in his hand
Is the man who put them there.