"A Rose By Any Other Name," as Shakespeare is said to have said.




In my nearly 40 year aviation career I had a multitude of titles.


Airframe Mechanic, Airframe Fitter, Aircraft Inspector, Journeyman Aircraft Assembler, Junior Mechanic, Mechanic, Licensed Mechanic, Certified Mechanic, Certificated Aircraft Technician.


I started out as an aircraft mechanic ... I finished up as an aircraft mechanic. Didn't get far did I?
Didn't rise very high did I?


Well, it's an honourable calling. No mistakes permitted. One thing an aircraft can't do is pull over and wait until someone fixes it. They have to go up, go along and come down and they have to do all three correctly, very correctly.


An aircraft's complexity beggars belief.

The mechanic who signs the log book it stating that that aircraft is safe to go, safe to get the crew and maybe a couple of hundred people where they are planned to go.


I never killed a plane and I never killed a passenger. A little bit of luck there maybe.


I saw a huge slice of aviation history from about half a dozen viewpoints. Regrets? Yes, it was, most of the time, a miserable job, a very physically demanding job, a job that got precious little recognition.

Shift work and weather and a social life that simply wasn't.


Would I do it again? NO! At the end of my 25 years with Air Canada I couldn't get out of the parking lot fast enough.


But ................ it was a real job. A clever hands job. A job that called for right and honest decisions. At the end of the day you'd earned your money. The planes had come and gone.


An aircraft mechanic fixes planes. 'Tis indeed an honourable calling.