Francis Joseph Taylor (1924-1987) spent an entire lifetime working in aviation. Growing up in Washington, DC, he built and flew model airplanes at the Anacostia Naval Air Station, which was within walking distance of his home. During World War II, Mr. Taylor enlisted in the Navy and served as a mechanic and flight engineer on the PBY Catalina and the Navy's version of the B-24, the PB4Y-1. After leaving the Navy, Mr. Taylor worked as a mechanic for Capitol Airlines, whose headquarters were located at National Airport. Mr. Taylor eventually left that job and, after taking a short walk down the ramp to Hanger No. 6, he began what would become a 40 year career with the Federal Aviation Administration, eventually working at the FAA's headquarters in Washington, DC.

Mr. Taylor has unique ties to two airplanes in the Air and Space Museum's collection. As a young child Mr. Taylor was allowed to sit in Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis." How this came about was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. On its return from Europe in 1927 the Spirit of St. Louis was reassembled by the mechanics at the nearby Anacostia Naval Air Station. Mr. Taylor's family was in the crowd of spectators that had gathered at the airfield when the Spirit of St. Louis was rolled out of the hanger by the Navy mechanics for an informal viewing. Someone convinced a mechanic to let the young lad sit in the pilot's seat.

Mr. Taylor also has a connection to another plane on display at the Air and Space Museum - the Roscoe Turner Boeing 247 London-Melbourne racer. Once the Boeing's racing days were over the airplane was operated by the Department of Commerce. Mr. Taylor worked on the airplane when it passed through National Airport

Finally, Mr. Taylor was directly responsible for a small piece of aviation safety that appears on every commercial flight: he submitted an employee suggestion to his employer, the FAA, that cabin crew on commercial airlines should explain to the passengers how to operate their seat belts as part of the pre-flight safety briefing. While it may seem routine now, there was a time when seat belts were not as common as they are today, especially in automobiles. Mr. Taylor was settling in on a commercial flight when he noticed that the person sitting next to him, a nicely dressed businessman, was having difficulty figuring out how the seat belt worked. Mr. Taylor reasoned that if this seemingly intelligent person seated next to him was having difficulty, then others may suffer similar bewilderment. Upon returning to work Mr. Taylor submitted a suggestion that an explanation of how the seat belts worked should be included in the pre-flight safety demonstration. His suggestion was eventually adopted and Mr. Taylor received a certificate and a $400 award.

This profile was submitted by Mr. Taylor's son, Gregory Francis Taylor.
Thanks Dad!