Charlie Taylor (mechanic)

— Charlie TaylorHe was born in a log cabin on May 24, 1868, in Cerro Gordo, Illinois, to William Stephen Taylor and Mary Jane Germain.He designed and built the aluminum-copper, water-cooled, four-cylinder aircraft engine in only six weeks, based partly on rough sketches provided by the Wrights.On September 17, the airplane crashed due to a shattered propeller, seriously injuring Orville and killing his passenger, Army lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.[3] Both Taylor and Navy Lieutenant George Sweet had been scheduled to make their first flights with Orville that day, but both were bumped in order to accommodate Selfridge who had to leave town shortly for Missouri.When Calbraith Perry Rodgers made his trip from Long Island to California in 1911 in his newly bought Wright aircraft, he paid Taylor $70 a week (a large sum at the time) to be his mechanic.He later moved to California and invested his life savings in several hundred acres of real estate near the Salton Sea, but the venture failed.By 1955 his annuity and Social Security income were inadequate and due to his health problems he ended up in the charity ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital.
Charlie and Wilbur attach a canoe onto a new Flyer at Governor's Island, New York, October 1909.
Cerro Gordo, IllinoisLos Angeles, CaliforniaMechanicmachinistWright brothersWright Flyeraeronauticalpower-to-weight ratioaircraft enginecrankcaseDayton, OhioThomas SelfridgeModel AHudson-Fulton CelebrationWright CompanyCalbraith Perry RodgersSalton SeaHenry FordLos Angeles County HospitalasthmaSan FernandoPortal of Folded Wings Shrine to AviationBurbank, CaliforniaCharles Taylor Master Mechanic AwardEmbry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityAviation Maintenance Technician DayNational Aviation Hall of FameAmerican National BiographyLos Angeles TimesNew Jersey SenateWayback MachinePortal of the Folded Wings Shrine to AviationJohn Bevins MoisantWalter Richard BrookinsBertrand Blanchard AcostaJames Floyd SmithWinfield Bertrum KinnerElizabeth Lippincott McQueenAugustus Roy KnabenshueJohn Franklin Bruce CarruthersMark Mitchell CampbellMatilde E. MoisantWarren Samuel EatonCarl Browne SquierHilder Florentina SmithWright AeronauticalWright Glider1903 Wright FlyerFlyer IIFlyer IIIWright Model AModel BModel CModel DModel EModel EXVin Fiz FlyerModel FModel GModel HSModel KModel RWright-MartinWright-Martin Model RWright-Martin Model VWright F2WWright-Bellanca WB-1Orville and Wilbur WrightGiuseppe Mario BellancaWright Cycle CompanyWright Flying SchoolWright Exhibition TeamDayton Aviation Heritage National Historical ParkHuffman PrairieWright Brothers flights of 1909Wright Brothers National MemorialNational Aviation Heritage AreaNational Aviation DayPan American Aviation DayWright Brothers DayWright Brothers MedalWright Brothers Memorial TrophyWilbur Wright FieldWright-Patterson Air Force BaseWright MonsWright brothers patent warMatthew Piers Watt BoultonMilton WrightSusan Catherine Koerner WrightKatharine WrightHawthorn HillWilbur Wright und seine FlugmaschineThe Wright BrothersThe Winds of Kitty Hawk