MMC Conference to Feature Aviation Historian, Author Giacinta Bradley Koontz

The 26th Annual National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Maintenance Management Conference keynote address will be given this year by renowned aviation historian Giacinta Bradley Koontz, an award-winning author and expert on aircraft mechanics history.

Koontz will deliver the keynote speech April 5, 2011, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel in San Diego, Calif., highlighting the life stories of the pioneering men and women who have maintained aircraft from Orville and Wilbur Wright's first airplane engine to today's modern aircraft.

"Attendees at this year's MMC Conference are in for a treat, as Ms. Koontz shares remarkable profiles in leadership among those responsible for the maintenance of some truly noteworthy aircraft," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "As the conference helps the aircraft maintenance leaders at NBAA's Member Companies, these pioneers stand as a true inspiration."

Koontz, a self-described "Aviation Anthropologist," first became interested in aviation when she came across the life of Harriet Quimby, America's first licensed female pilot, and went on to author "The Harriet Quimby Scrapbook, the life of America's first Birdwoman (1875-1912)."

With a background in historic archaeology and museum curation, she directed an aviation history conference before becoming Director of the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation and Museum in North Hollywood, Calif., where the Wright Brothers' mechanic, Charles Taylor and other aviation pioneers are buried.

In 2002, Koontz helped write a state resolution establishing Aviation Maintenance Technician Day in California. Later, she began a column for Aircraft Maintenance Technology Magazine recounting the untold stories of aviation mechanics and has since been featured on PBS and the History Channel. In 2008, she was presented with the Daughters of the American Revolution History Award Medal.

The conference will begin on Tuesday, April 5, with registration and a continental breakfast from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. After an introduction by Brad Townsend, NBAA maintenance committee chairman, the keynote presentation will begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by education sessions and the opening of the exhibit hall.

Learn more about the education sessions, speakers, and agenda at the Maintenance Management Conference by visiting www.nbaa.org/events/mmc/2011.