David Thurston (20 September 1918 – 10 December 2013) was an American aircraft designer noted for his work on small amphibious aircraft, including the Colonial Skimmer,

Lake Buccaneer The Lake Buccaneer is an American four-seat, light amphibious aircraft derived from the Colonial C-2 Skimmer, itself a development of the three-seat Colonial C-1 Skimmer. Development The Colonial Aircraft of Sanford, Maine developed the C-2 ...

Thurston Teal The Thurston Teal is a family of two- and four-seat all-aluminium amphibious aircraft designed by David Thurston in the United States and first flown in 1968. A total of 38 Teals were manufactured. Development The Teal design features a high ...

and AeroMarine Seafire. He also wrote three books about light airplane design: ''Design for Flying'', ''Design for Safety'', and ''Homebuilt Aircraft''.

Biography

Thurston was born in

Mineola, New York Mineola is a village in and the county seat of Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from an Algonquin Chief, Miniolagamika, which means "pleasant village". ...

. In June 1940 he received a degree in

Aeronautical Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...

from New York University- NYU. His first employment was with

Brewster Aeronautical Corporation The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was an American defense contractor that operated from the 1930s until the end of World War II. History Originally a carriage builder, Brewster & Co.'s involvement in aviation began in the aftermath of W ...

where he was a design engineer from May 1940. In May 1942 he joined

Grumman Aircraft The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 199 ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Thurston was involved in the development of three personal type aircraft directly under the Grumman president,

Leroy Grumman Leroy Randle "Roy" Grumman (4 January 1895 – 4 October 1982) was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and industrialist. In 1929, he co-founded Grumman Aircraft Engineering Co., later renamed Grumman Aerospace Corporation, and now ...

. The aircraft included the G-65 Tadpole amphibian, as well as the G-63 and G-72 Kitten sport airplanes. None of these aircraft entered production, when the post-war personal aircraft market did not boom as predicted. Thurston became design group leader for the G-79 naval jet fighter, designated

F9F Panther The Grumman F9F Panther is one of the United States Navy's first successful aircraft carrier, carrier-based jet fighters, as well as Grumman’s first jet fighter. A single-engined, straight-winged day fighter, it was armed with four Hispano-Su ...

by US Navy. From December 1947 to June 1953 Thurston was in charge of Grumman Rigel guided missile development program followed by the

F11F Tiger The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger is a supersonic, single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s. Originally designated the F11F Tiger in April 1955 under the pre-1962 Navy designation system, i ...

naval jet fighter. At his resignation from Grumman in January 1955, Thurston was in charge of the design and development of propeller driven aircraft at Grumman, being a senior member of a staff responsible for the operation of a 1500-man engineering department. Thurston died at

South Portland, Maine South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the fourth-largest city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 census, the city population was 26,498. Known for its working waterfront, South Portland is sit ...

on 10 December 2013.Portland Press Herald: Wednesday, December 18, 2013
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References

External links

- Steinar's Hangar. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thurston, David Aircraft designers 1918 births 2013 deaths