David Thurston
American aircraft designer (1918-2013)
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, Thurston Teal 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. In June 1940 he received a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from New York University- NYU. His first employment was with Brewster Aeronautical Corporation where he was a design engineer from May 1940.
In May 1942 he joined Grumman Aircraft. After World War II, Thurston was involved in the development of three personal type aircraft directly under the Grumman president, Leroy Grumman. 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 by US Navy. From December 1947 to June 1953 Thurston was in charge of the Grumman Rigel guided missile development program followed by the F11F Tiger naval jet fighter.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “David Thurston” as american aircraft designer (1918-2013). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american aircraft designer (1918-2013). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5240421. VIAF identifies the subject as 93192673. The Library of Congress control number is n79139524. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1918, 2013, 1940 and 1942.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “David Thurston”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow David Thurston primary sources, David Thurston archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Thurston”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “David Thurston” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.