Bill Gunston RIP (1927 - 2013) Memorial Topic

[TaiidanTomcat]

I remember 1995, discovering Bill Gunston's 'Encyclopedia Of Russian Aircraft', and being stunned by hundreds of pages of aircraft I had never heard of.

Absolutely the same here! I saw it in a bookshop, when I was on a short trip to London with my wife in 1996. It had a rather significant price tag (I didn't care ), and I still remember the young woman at the cashier: While I took lots of £££ from my wallet, she leafed through the pages, and said to me in a decidedly skeptical tone "I hope for you it's worth all the money" ;D . Well, it certainly was .

I found it in a book store in 2001 and (stupidly) passed on it. Later on I spent years trying to find it at a price I could afford. Finally did and felt it was well worth the cost, extremely comprehensive. Still kick myself for waiting

 

[Farloccus]

Sad news.

I used to read his book when I was a child.

I feel older...

RIP

 

[hesham]

Hi all,


I remembered when I bought a three books to Bill Gunston in 1987,I thought that I get
all I need in Aviation,it is a trouble to loss someone like him,I wish the God bless his
soul and mercy him.

 

[Flying Sorcerer]

I'm sad to hear that. Years ago I wrote him a letter in care of his publisher about an obscure Canadian aircraft project and was delighted and surprised to receive a handwritten reply.

 

[Stargazer]

Though I was interested in aviation all my life, even if I started making lists of designations at about eight, and knew of a few nice projects in my early years, the first book that actually got me VERY interested in some unbuilt aircraft to the point that I wanted to research them was a Salamander book by Gunston that had the Grumman 698 and the Vought V-530 "Type A" contenders. So in a way I, too, am indebted to Gunston for creating such an interest in me!

I hope that his family get to read this thread so they can see how respected and influential he was to so many...

 

[hark40]

Like so many others here, a Salamander book written by him was one I would beg my parents to buy for me. Many, many hours were spent reading/re-reading and looking at those books, and are today still worth picking up. All are still on my bookshelf today. You will be missed sir.

 

[uk 75]

I am late to this thread and others have said much of what I would like to have said.

The 70s and 80s were dominated by so many of his books. Younger visitors to this site who grew up with reasonably priced colour printed magazines and books will be surprised to learn that well into the 80s such things were hard to find. Most magazines and books were illustrated in black and white. Colour pages were reserved for certain things like painting charts. The Salamander books were the Internet of the 70s and 80s. Mine have been well used, cut up in some cases and then re-purchased. My addiction to coloured side views and vivid illustrations came from this period.

Bill Gunston, thank you for a great time and a library which I still use every day in this webbased age.

uk 75

 

[gTg]

R.I.P.


It all started for me in the 90ies with the book in #8.
I was assimilating the content like a swamp and having nobody for a couple of years to share the passion in pre-internet days.

 

[LowObservable]

Late to thread, but was working on something for publication and remembered this:


It was Gunston who, in 1975, bet the then-editor of Flight that the Airbus A300 and its derivatives would outsell the Boeing 727. “Unfortunately, last time I visited Aerospatiale, a major force in Airbus, they laughed their heads off,” he wrote. “It will take them a while to realize how big the Airbus Industrie operation must become.”

A true genius, and a very nice guy.

 

[robunos]

Echoing all that the previous posters have written, I first became aware of Bill Gunston's work in the classic 'Fighters of the Fifties' articles in 'Aeroplane Monthly'. It was soon obvious as to the authority of his writing, and his books became 'must haves', from his 'Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines', to the monumental 'Aircraft of the Soviet Union', and even more so 'Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft', and, of course, 'Future Fighters'.
Although to a degree his classic works have been overtaken by more modern works, and his output dropped away in later years, he is still to my mind,one of the foremost aviation authors ever published... farewell, 'Great Gunston!...

cheers,
Robin.

 

[batigol]

This is very sad news


Like many of you, my love for aviation and aircraft was started by Mr. Gunston's books, which were the first books I checked out of the library as an 8 year old as soon as I got my library card in the early 90s. I spent many summers lying on the living room carpet flipping through all those Salamander "Illustrated Guide to..." and all the while wondering why this Gunston guy's name was on every book, and now I collect them for nostalgia's sake. I can thank him for igniting the spark in my life of this wonderful hobby and passion that many of us share, my interest in history and writing, and for making a voracious, life-long reader out of a curious 8 year old kid.


Thank you Mr. Gunston for all the memories.


RIP

 

[Lauge]

I too have a large number of Bill Gunston's books on my shelves, and I regularly use them as reference material, or just browse through them in admiration.

Sir Bill, you will indeed be missed. Wherever you are now, I hope it includes the opportunity for you to have a pint with the Wright brothers, Willy Messerschmitt, Artem Mikoyan and Ed Heinemann (among others).

Regards & all,

Thomas L. Nielsen
Luxembourg

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

We already lost William Green (1927 – 2010) and Gordon Swanborough ( ??? ? - ??? ?) who along with Bill Gunston were, in my opinion, the heroes of aviation publishing in the UK. Air International was a magnificent magazine under their stewardship.


While I never met Bill Gunston, I was at Aerospace Publishing in 1991 on work experience when they were putting together the first flights per year photo spreads for the Chronicle Of Aviation and I believe it was Gordon Swanborough who was writing up captions for every aircraft on the spot from memory.

 

[Stargazer]

We already lost William Green (1927 – 2010) and Gordon Swanborough ( ??? ? - ??? ?) who along with Bill Gunston were, in my opinion, the heroes of aviation publishing in the UK. (...) I believe it was Gordon Swanborough who was writing up captions for every aircraft on the spot from memory.

A bit off-topic but since you mentioned him... Back in 1991-ish, I sent a letter to the editorial team at Air International (which was then run by Swanborough) and was extremely surprised to receive a personal signed reply from Swanborough himself, telling me he had recently relinquished his position but still giving me the information I wanted (it was about the missing Lockheed "Model 6" designation). This kind of unassuming attitude, personal involvement, editorial precision and all-encompassing knowledge of aviation will be missed!

 

[pathology_doc]

Green and Swanborough are gone too? Good Grief.


Quick! Build an immortality machine and shove Buttler, Gibson, Friedman, Gordon etc. in it while there's still time!

 

[SteveO]

RIP Bill, thanks for many good reads.

 

[Maveric]

I´m late, but I hope not to late to say: Thank you Bill. RIP.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Had a quick check and I own 17 books by Bill Gunston at present, though I have read many more. I threw away lots of aviation books when I dropped out of Aero Engineering much to my future chagrin, and have rebought many of them since.

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

R.I.P. Bill....Your books were for me classsic childhood reading. My classmates were borrowing less advanced fare from the school library and here I was checking out "FUTURE FIGHTERS". You will be missed sir.

 

[topspeed3]

R.I.P Bill Gunston .

I had no idea he was WWII fighter pilot as well.

 

[Pioneer]

Very sad news indeed :-[ .

Unlike many others here I cannot say that a Gunston book started my interest in military aviation. But what did really set off my fascination with guided missiles was this book:

Thank you, Bill, and R.I.P.!

Of all the books that he did, this is the one I was really hoping he would have updated and reprinted!
After all how many more missile/rocket programs have come and gone since the 1979 publishing date of my copy of this book! Especially when one considers the information now available since the fall of the secretive Soviet Union! Although saying this the new addition would have to be at least twice as thick!! But that could only be a good thing!

RIP Mr Gunston
Your work was without doubt one of the greatest contributing factors of my military interest and knowledge
Tonight I will take a look at my very first military book that I was given by my Grandparents as a gift on my birthday 33 year ago "An Illustrated Guide to Modern Fighters and Attack Aircraft"

Regards
Pioneer

 

[pathology_doc]

Pioneer, I agree - it's not just the new stuff either; it's what we now know about the old!


(It's been a bad week or two for good writers - we just lost Iain M. Banks too, I hear.)

 

[Arjen]

(It's been a bad week or two for good writers - we just lost Iain M. Banks too, I hear.)

... and Tom Sharpe

 

[sferrin]

Very sad news indeed :-[ .

Unlike many others here I cannot say that a Gunston book started my interest in military aviation. But what did really set off my fascination with guided missiles was this book:

Thank you, Bill, and R.I.P.!

Of all the books that he did, this is the one I was really hoping he would have updated and reprinted!
After all how many more missile/rocket programs have come and gone since the 1979 publishing date of my copy of this book! Especially when one considers the information now available since the fall of the secretive Soviet Union! Although saying this the new addition would have to be at least twice as thick!! But that could only be a good thing!

RIP Mr Gunston
Your work was without doubt one of the greatest contributing factors of my military interest and knowledge
Tonight I will take a look at my very first military book that I was given by my Grandparents as a gift on my birthday 33 year ago "An Illustrated Guide to Modern Fighters and Attack Aircraft"

Regards
Pioneer

Okay now I feel old. I remember walking into the local Waldenbooks at the mall and seeing those guides first hit the shelf and thinking, "which one should I get?"

 

[Pioneer]

Pioneer, I agree - it's not just the new stuff either; it's what we now know about the old!


(It's been a bad week or two for good writers - we just lost Iain M. Banks too, I hear.)

Yes my friend good point!
Agreed!!

Regards
Pioneer

 

[CJGibson]

Late to this, as I’ve been offshore. A quick scan of the shelves shows that I only (?) have twelve of Bill’s books, but having relied on them throughout the Cold War, have passed on the older stuff, so have probably had scores of them over the years. I picked up a copy of “Aircraft of the Soviet Union” for twelve quid in a secondhand bookshop in Leicester. I must have looked like a Trainspotting-style shoplifter as I left the shop and headed for home, such was my excitement to have a copy. I still have it and the post-89 update
Bill’s “Encyclopaedia of Rockets and Missiles” was a one-off and I doubt will be repeated. I only spoke to him once and he chatted away and was very helpful and gave his time freely to a pup researcher asking silly questions out of the blue.

One memory sticks. He wrote, in his 1986 Osprey book on the MiG23/27 Flogger, that the ground-attack version of the Flogger should be the MiG 24. I read this and thought “Rubbish”. A year later I was standing outside Luanda Airport watching Floggers in the circuit. My Angolan driver, noting my interest, pointed at a Flogger and said “MiG 24”. I thought that perhaps Bill wasn’t talking rubbish after all.

Well, I’ll stop havering and just say that through his books, Bill Gunston provided me with so much information and can only say that he was unique and will be missed by anyone interested in aviation.
Chris

 

[Stargazer]

One memory sticks. He wrote, in his 1986 Osprey book on the MiG23/27 Flogger, that the ground-attack version of the Flogger should be the MiG 24. I read this and thought “Rubbish”. A year later I was standing outside Luanda Airport watching Floggers in the circuit. My Angolan driver, noting my interest, pointed at a Flogger and said “MiG 24”. I thought that perhaps Bill wasn’t talking rubbish after all.

Well, I’ll stop havering and just say that through his books, Bill Gunston provided me with so much information and can only say that he was unique and will be missed by anyone interested in aviation.
Chris

Perhaps Gunston got that bit of info from some Angolan driver? :

At any rate, the designation "MiG-24" was clearly an aberration, especially from such a knowledgeable author, considering the fact that combat aircraft always used uneven numbers in the Soviet designations system (this is no longer true, as evidenced by the Su-30, -32, -34).

 

[topspeed3]

Biil Gunston presents his views here;

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGTn4CCU1S0



Possibly with few aberrations.

 

[CJGibson]

Maybe so, but in the 70s and 80s, there wasn't the info available to prove otherwise. Back then if Bill wrote something, we tended to take it as read. Only post 89 and with archives opening do we know the correct story. I mention this in Vulcan's Hammer when I talk about the Backfire and Foxbat. Nobody knew, but Gunston would take a stab at it and put his knowledge to use and a must be applauded for attempting to shine a light on the Soviet aircraft scene.

Chris.

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

Sferrin,

Now you're making me feel old, talking about Waldenbooks at the mall!

In lieu of a babysitter my mom would just drop my brother and me at the bookstore while she did her shopping.

I'd sit forever in the space and military aviation sections with a pencil and a notepad, ready to draw out any new plane or rocket design I saw in those books. Including Gunston's stuff. Intel gathering, kiddie-style!

In this era, however, all the Waldenbooks' are gone from malls, Barnes & Noble ate up all their business, and no parent would just leave their kids at a bookstore like that.

TImes have changed. But I'm grateful for me experience. It opened up my mind at an early age.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

One memory sticks. He wrote, in his 1986 Osprey book on the MiG23/27 Flogger, that the ground-attack version of the Flogger should be the MiG 24. I read this and thought “Rubbish”. A year later I was standing outside Luanda Airport watching Floggers in the circuit. My Angolan driver, noting my interest, pointed at a Flogger and said “MiG 24”. I thought that perhaps Bill wasn’t talking rubbish after all.

Well, I’ll stop havering and just say that through his books, Bill Gunston provided me with so much information and can only say that he was unique and will be missed by anyone interested in aviation.
Chris

Perhaps Gunston got that bit of info from some Angolan driver? :

At any rate, the designation "MiG-24" was clearly an aberration, especially from such a knowledgeable author, considering the fact that combat aircraft always used uneven numbers in the Soviet designations system (this is no longer true, as evidenced by the Su-30, -32, -34).

Might be worth checking your facts first before criticising.


The rule of odd/even designations has never been completely understood, but the best two theories of the Cold War were that odd numbers are reserved for fighters specifically, or for single seat aircraft. The first theory was generally accepted and appears correct for the most part.

e.g.


Yak-25 - fighter, single seat
Yak-32 - twin seat trainer
Yak-28 - bomber, twin seat
Yak-28P - fighter adaptation of bomber, twin seat
Su-24 - bomber, twin seat
Su-7 - fighter (originally), single seat
Su-7B - bomber adaptation of fighter, single seat
Tu-22M - bomber

The grey area comes with "fighter-bombers" and otherwise confusing designations e.g.


e.g.

Tu-95 - bomber, originally Tu-20 but officially redesignated with its OKB designation.
MiG-27 - dedicated attack aircraft , single seat
Su-17, Su-20, Su-22 - can't make up its mind, doesn't fit either system.
Su-25 - dedicated attack aircraft, single seat
Su-30 - Originally a twin seat command post version of Su-27 then twin seat fighter.
Su-32/34 - bomber, twin seat
Mi-17 - Odd number but no fighter

In the end, for Soviet models, the customer assigned the number. So if the VVS wanted to view the MiG-27 and Su-17 as "fighters" that was their perogative. Possibly by the time the export model designations Su-20/Su-22 were assigned, saner minds were present in the designation department.


So, MiG-24 make total sense as the designation for an attack dedicated version of the MiG-23. However, I don't think this is actually what he said:

 

[gatoraptor]

I just spotted this thread, and I appreciated Gunston's efforts, especially the titles he did for Salamander (usually issued by other publishers here in the U.S.).

I perused my bookshelf, and I'd say my favorites include "Modern Air Combat" and its companion "Modern Fighting Helicopters" with Mike Spick, as well as "American Warplanes" and "Aircraft Armament". (Combined with similar books by other authors on land, sea & submarine warfare, those first two books mentioned formed part of a nice, low-priced "encyclopedia" on modern warfare, at least at the time they were issued.)

R.I.P., Bill.

 

[Stargazer]

Might be worth checking your facts first before criticising.

The rule of odd/even designations has never been completely understood, but the best two theories of the Cold War were that odd numbers are reserved for fighters specifically, or for single seat aircraft. The first theory was generally accepted and appears correct for the most part.

Thanks for correcting my mistake. It happens I got confused in my use of the term "combat aircraft" when I should have written "fighters" (of course, bombers are ALSO combat aircraft). Sorry about that.

So, MiG-24 make total sense as the designation for an attack dedicated version of the MiG-23. However, I don't think this is actually what he said

I was not the one who said that Bill Gunston had written "MiG-24" in the first place, so I'm not concerned with this particular remark.

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://www.janes360.com/article/13580/obituary-bill-gunston-obe-fraes

Obituary: Bill Gunston OBE, FRAeS

Michael J Gething, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
09 June 2013

The world of aviation journalism will be poorer with the passing of Bill Gunston, former Editor of Jane's Aero-Engines and author of more than 375 reference works on aviation, who died on 1 June 2013.

Born in 1927, William Tudor Gunston was educated at Pinner County School and the Universities of Durham and London. Serving with the Royal Air Force from 1945 until 1948, he trained as a pilot and then as an instructor, flying, among other types, the de Havilland Mosquito and single-seat Vampire fighter.

In 1951 Bill joined the editorial staff of Flight (now Flight International ) magazine, later being appointed Technical Editor....

 

[John21]

I know my condolences are a bit late but I too would like to wish him a restful peace. I have probably 15-20 books by him along with many more with him as a contributing author. He is my favorite aviation author with his ability to get into the details but with a laymans ability to keep it simple and understandable.

 

[Stargazer]

There's only one thing that's better than a great aviation book in great condition purchased second hand for a bargain price... and that's when the book in question has THIS particular sticker affixed to the first page...

 

[Stargazer]

(forgot to explain that the blue lines are my way of hiding the address and phone number, but I supposed that went without saying)

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

That really is awesome. What was the book? I wonder if his whole library has been sold off?

 

[Stargazer]

I wonder if his whole library has been sold off?

I have contacted the seller about that, but he hasn't replied yet. He doesn't seem to have a great number of aviation books to sell (unless of course he has already sold most of them... or not put them for sale yet) although he does have a book written by Bill Gunston among them.

 

[GTX]

That really is awesome. What was the book? I wonder if his whole library has been sold off?

Yes, enquiring minds wish to know.