Charles Edward Taylor (May 24, 1868 – January 30, 1956) was an American inventor, mechanic and machinist. He built the first aircraft engine used by the Wright brothers in the Wright Flyer, and was a vital contributor of mechanical skills in the building and maintaining of early Wright engines and airplanes. on January 30, 1956 - eight years to the day after Orville, his friend and employer. Taylor is buried at the Portal of Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in Burbank, California, a shrine to aviation history.

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Further reading

  • AMT (Aircraft Maintenance Technology) "Charles E. Taylor: Who is he and why should we honor him?"
  • Howard R. DuFour with Peter J Unitt, The Wright Brother's Mechanician, 1997, . Published by the author. (196 pages, hardback.)
  • "Charlie's Engine", by Tony French in Pilot Celebrates 100 Years of Flying. page 125, Archant Specialist, 2003.
  • Aviation Today "My Story: Charles E. Taylor as told to Robert S. Ball"
  • Getty Images: Photo: Charlie Taylor, William J. Hammer, Wilbur Wright at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 1909
  • Bust of Charlie at the USAirForce Museum
  • Biography from the National Aviation Hall of Fame
  • Archival footage from We Saw It Happen (1953) with Taylor at age 87.