Bill Gunston RIP (1927 - 2013) Memorial Topic

flateric

flateric

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We even have not exact date of birth or pristine photo of him on the web. This happen last weekend.

RIP, Sir

Thousands, tens thousands became connected with aerospace and got related professions or lifetime obsession with skies because of you. Many aviation journalists and authors started after reading his books.

One of several big men left. Long and great life.
 

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Horrible news. Most of the first books I got that had anything to do with military aviation were written by the man, and most of those were the little Salamander books, which I still have. I remember one point in elementary school we were in the library, and were asked to name our favorite authors. "Bill Gunston", I said, my primary reading those days being the aforementioned Salamander series. Got a few weird looks for that one...but I can't complain at how it all worked out in the end.


R.I.P.
 
flateric said:
We even have not exact date of birth or pristine photo of him on the web. This happen last weekend.

RIP, Sir Gunston

Thousands, tens thousands became connected with aerospace and got related professions or lifetime obsession with skies because of you. Many aviation journalists and authors started after reading his books.

One of several big men left. Long and great life.
Click to expand...


I could not put it any better.


THIS is the book I received for Christmas when I was ten-years old. I cannot begin to describe how it influenced my life. Not only did the book feature almost every aircraft and missile in active military service (and/or development) at the time, but it also opened my eyes as to the politics of the world, as the first part featured summaries of air power for each nation that had any air arm. I learned who the "good guys" and the "bad guys" were at a young age simply by looking over their inventories of aircraft compiled so generously by Mr. Gunston.


 
flateric said:
We even have not exact date of birth or pristine photo of him on the web. This happen last weekend.

RIP, Sir Gunston

Thousands, tens thousands became connected with aerospace and got related professions or lifetime obsession with skies because of you. Many aviation journalists and authors started after reading his books.

One of several big men left. Long and great life.
Click to expand...


I second that sentiment, Mr. Gunston was a dear friend and one of the best military aviation authors of the 20th century. So RIP my friend :( You surely be missed Sir :'(
 

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RIP - What an amazing life his hard work blessing us with knowledge of all things aviation/military. I bet everyone on this site or the vast majority of SP members have one or more (maybe many more) of his books.

My grandfather got me Rockets & Missiles when I was in high school and as anyone here can attest I have been following, some may say been obsessed, with rocket and missile technology ever since. I used his book to illustrate to a social science teacher the awesome Soviet ICBM arsenal compared to the US even drawing pictures of SS-18s beside MMIIIs with throw-weight and warhead yield numbers in the margins to prove my point.
 
A great loss indeed. :-[


I like many here grew up reading his books - many of which I have read cover to cover many times.
 


One of my favorites, loved the illustrations as a kid and then became just as fascinated by the words as I got older. He will be missed
 
RIP - his memorials are in our book shelves to stay.
 

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A sad day....


I met Sir Gunston books (Salamander ones) in mid-80's when I was just a young guy, he lightned up the fantasy of much of us bright younger aviation geeks.


Godspeed Bill!!
 
I'm very sad to hear it. I never met him but his books were an inspiration to me, especially Aircraft Armament, and I still have a lot of them. In 2000, he was the first person to write a review of my first book, Rapid Fire, and was very complimentary, which made me like him even more!

Incidentally, a point of detail for non-British readers: when a man is awarded a knighthood, he is referred to (in this case) as Sir William Gunston or (less formally, if he wishes) Sir Bill Gunston, with the short form being Sir William or Sir Bill - but never Sir Gunston.
 
RIP :(

Oddly there doesn't seem to be any obituaries for him yet.
 
Thanks Bill for some very great books including this one, which I saved up my pocket money for and purchased in 1986 or so, thereby feeding an interest which led to creating this very website.


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That's real sad news. I like most others here have a ton of his books - Jet Bombers being a favorite tome.
 
I think Bill was the greatest and none in future years will reach his level of knowledge of aeronautics and the marvellous capability of explain it.
RIP Bill


Nico
 
Bill Gunston was quite an influential author for me. When I was young and short of cash you could guarantee that his books would be worth the investment and be a good read.

From his "Aircraft Of The Soviet Union" and "Early Supersonic Fighters Of The West", through his Putnam collaborations, right on to the massive tome that was "The Osprey Encyclopedia Of Russian Aircraft" they were authorative and always well written.
 
Oh no. That's my second well-loved author in a week! (The other was SF/Fantasy author Jack Vance.)

RIP Bill Gunston.


I wouldn't say his Encyclopaedia of Combat Aircraft (another Salamander great) started my obsession with military aviation, but it was certainly like petrol on a newly kindled fire. Much that he wrote there has been rendered obsolete by time and greater knowledge, but it was a wonderful book for its time and IMO still remains so.
 
I would say Bill Gunston did start my uninformed miitary aircraft obsession w/ the Encyclopaedia of Combat Aircraft and ditto 'it was a wonderful book for its time and IMO still remains so.'

God Bless and RIP Bill Gunston.

Hope others show their condolences on this forum.
j
 
Just counted -- 20 of his titles on my shelves. I just found and bought a copy of "Hovercraft and Hydrofoils" on the web over the weekend. I wouldn't even attempt to count the magazine articles I've kept.


Let us also remember he was an RAF pilot during WWII.
 
I have many of his books at home since I was a teen. Giants of the Sky and Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft are amongst my all time favourites.
Thanks Mr Gunston!
 
Sad news. I have dozens of his books. Back in the early 80s growing up I'd save my lunch money so I could by military books and most of them were written by him.
 
Sad to see that both he and Jack Vance have gone. Both sustained my spirits in a dour teenage life.

R.I.P
 
Writings by Mr. Bill Gunston have been and will continue to be one of my most referred to sources for my research. Bill and some his many works are listed in some of my books and I was honored to have met him at an aviation history writer's book signing in the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington in 1992. I'm just really sad that Bill has passed but he lives on in thousands of new and used book stores, libraries, aviation museums, and homes - including mine. He'll be sorely missed. Thank you for your contributions to aviation history, Bill! Your friend, Steve
 
Very sad news indeed. Bill Gunston was the author of most of the books that got me into aviation; my brother got me this for my birthday in 1985, and that was where it all began:

gunston-modernfightingaircraft.JPG



I still read most of them today - must have read his Harrier books a hundred times!

His legacy is clear among those on this site, and elsewhere, who were inspired by him to pursue an interest, or to make a living, in the field of aerospace.

RIP.
 
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.

Thank you Bill.
 

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i got his book "Jetbombers"
i will miss him...
 
I was lucky enough to have a grandfather who both inspired and nurtured my love for aviation. I poured through many of these books, most of them presents from my grandfather. RIP Mr. Gunston
 
What a loss!

Like I'll bet most of us here, I had dozens of his books. He helped nurture my love for this kind of knowledge.

I was privileged to meet him at a conference in the 1980s where he then graciously agreed to come up to my intel unit and give a talk (we could never have afforded him!) for free, on WWII and then current Soviet design philosophy including why the MiG-29 and SU-27 looked so much like the F-14 and F-15. And no, it was not because the Soviets were trying to directly copy US designs.

I still remember driving him around the SF Bay Area that weekend, including going into a hobby/book store I frequented where a good number of his books were for sale. In my mind's eye I can still see people's eyes get big and round when they realized who he was (for months after, whenever I went in there I was a god). He was very proud of what he had done, but so down to earth. Funny thing: with all the involvement he had with aviation, he had never been aboard an American aircraft carrier! There were two in port at Alameda at the time, but given his limited free time we couldn't work it out then. I hope that someday he got his wish.

The world will miss such a prolific (he had a book come out as late as 2010!), opinionated (that's actually a compliment) and knowledgeable writer, and such a decent man.

I'm feeling more than a bit down right now.

R.I.P. Mr. Gunston, and thank you.
 
Different book, but same story: for me, the book that spurred my fascination for aviation was his wonderful " Future Fighters" in the Salamander collection.
It is a bit outdated, but it is packed with great information and i have been using it for inspiration not two months ago in a proposal my company submitted to build an X-plane. It is safe to say that most of what i learned in my pre-professional years i learned from Bill Gunston's books.


R.I.P., you'll be missed - but we have your works on our bookshelves.
 
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:

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Thank you, Bill, and R.I.P.!
 
I'm sorry to hear he's gone. My first Gunston book was also the Salmander "Future Fighters" book. I got from my grandmother and her book shop. She gone too now, and I run the bookshop. Anyhow, I became a bit obsessed with the Future Fighters book, taking it everywhere with me, and sought out any of Gunston's other books I could find as a child. Over time I now have at least 30, but I'm unsure of the exact count. I actually have two copies of Future Fighters, one I keep next to my bed at home, and one is less than a meter away from me while I run my shop. It was and is an important book to me.
 

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Arjen said:
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.
Click to expand...
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 :D .
 

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