David Thurston is an American aircraft designer noted for his work on small amphibious aircraft, including the Grumman Duck

Grumman Duck

The Grumman Duck was one of two related amphibious biplanes built by Grumman:* Grumman JF Duck* Grumman J2F Duck...

, Colonial Skimmer, Lake Buccaneer

Lake Buccaneer

|-See also:-External links:...

, Thurston Teal

Thurston Teal

The Thurston Teal is a family of two- and four-seat all-aluminum amphibious flying boats designed by David Thurston in the United States and first flown in 1968.A total of 38 Teals were manufactured.-Development:...

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

Biography

Thurton was born in Mineola, New York

Mineola, New York

Mineola is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a Native American word meaning a "pleasant place"....

. In June 1940 he received a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

. His first employment was with Brewster Aeronautical Corporation

Brewster Aeronautical Corporation

The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was a North American defense contractor that operated from the 1930s until the end of World War II.It started existence as an aircraft division of Brewster & Co., a company that originally sold carriages and had branched into automobile bodies and airplane parts...

 where he was a design engineer from May 1940.

In May 1942 he joined Grumman Aircraft. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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

Leroy Grumman

Leroy Randle "Roy" Grumman was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and industrialist. In 1929, he co-founded Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Co. later to become Grumman Aerospace Corporation, now part of Northrop Grumman.-Early life:Born in Huntington, New York, Grumman's forebears had...

. The aircraft included the G-65 Tadpole amphibian, the G-63 and the G-72 Kitten three seat sport planes. 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

F9F Panther

|-Popular culture:The Panther played a prominent role in the 1954 movie Men of the Fighting Lady . The F9F was featured in the flying sequences in the 1954 movie The Bridges at Toko-Ri, although in the 1953 James A...

 by US Navy. From December 1947 through June 1953 Thurston was in charge of Grumman Rigel guided missile

Guided Missile

Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....

 development program followed by the F11F Tiger 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.

External links

• Thurston. - Steinar's Hangar.