Dick, Ron 1931–

PERSONAL:

Born October 18, 1931, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England; son of Arthur John Craig (an electrical engineer) and Lilian Dick; married Pauline Lomax, October 15, 1955; children: Gary Charles, Peta Noelle Dick Enoch. Education: Attended Royal Air Force College, 1950-52, Royal Air Force Staff College, 1966, Joint Services Staff College, 1969, and Royal College of Defence Studies, 1972-74. Hobbies and other interests: Military and aviation history, restoration and flying of historic aircraft, wildlife conservation, bird-watching, traveling, hill walking, and listening to opera.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—Woodbridge, VA; fax: 703-492-8934.

CAREER:

Writer, Air Force officer, aircraft pilot, and educator. Royal Air Force, career officer, 1950-88, retiring as air marshal; National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC, Smithsonian international fellow, 1988-91; Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, visiting lecturer on the history of air power, 1991-94; writer and public speaker, 1994—. Military assignments included aerobatic pilot, pilot of historic aircraft, flying instructor, exchange flight commander, flight commander on a nuclear strike squadron, and Vulcan squadron commander in Cyprus; air attaché at British embassy in Washington, DC, 1980-83; head of British Defence Staffs in the United States, 1984-88.

MEMBER:

International Association of Eagles, Royal Aeronautical Society (fellow).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Clarkson Trophy and Wright Jubilee Trophy, both 1955-56, both for aerobatic flying; Companion, Order of the Bath, 1988.

WRITINGS:

Lancaster: RAF Heavy Bomber, photographs by Dan Patterson, Howell Press (Charlottesville, VA), 1996.

Messerschmitt Bf109: Luftwaffe Fighter, photographs by Dan Patterson, Howell Press (Charlottesville, VA), 1997.

Spitfire: RAF Fighter, photographs by Dan Patterson, Howell Press (Charlottesville, VA), 1997.

American Eagles: A History of the United States Air Force, photographs by Dan Patterson, Howell Press (Charlottesville, VA), 1997.

Reach and Power: The Heritage of the United States Air Force in Pictures and Artifacts, U.S. Government Printing Office (Washington, DC), 1997.

The Aviation Century, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Hurricane: RAF Fighter, photographs by Dan Patterson, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

"AVIATION CENTURY" SERIES

(With Dan Patterson) Aviation Century The Early Years, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

(With Dan Patterson) Aviation Century The Golden Age, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

(With Dan Patterson) Aviation Century World War II, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

(With Dan Patterson) Aviation Century Wings of Change, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

(With Dan Patterson) Aviation Century War & Peace in the Air, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

OTHER

Contributor to books, including Oxford Companion to American Military History, Oxford University Press (New York, NY); The Means of Victory: RAF Bomber Command, Charterhouse Publications (London, England), 1992; Classic RAF Battles, Arms & Armour Press (London, England), 1995; and Cockpit, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 1998. Contributor to periodicals, including Airsport, Flight Journal, Air and Space Smithsonian, and Air Power History.

SIDELIGHTS:

Ron Dick once told CA: "As a schoolboy in London, I spent many hours looking skyward, watching the great aerial combats of the Battle of Britain. That experience inspired me to become a pilot in the Royal Air Force, a career which captured me for thirty-eight years. Although I retired from the service in 1988, my enthusiasm for flying remained undiminished, and I found an outlet in telling others about aviation, either by lecturing or by writing.

"The compulsion to write about aviation has its roots in the fact that, as the twenty-first century approaches, most people have come to take aircraft and flying very much for granted. Most of the wonder and excitement of the early days has gone, as generations have grown up with aircraft as an everyday phenomenon. Few people pursue the thought that aviation changed the world more than any other development in the twentieth century—technologically, militarily, politically, economically, and sociologically. Not a single human being anywhere on earth is untouched by the effects of aviation. It is a story well worth the telling—full of adventure, drama, courage, disaster, success, inspiration, enterprise, unlooked for curses, and unexpected blessings. What more could an author ask?"

In addition to books about specific airplanes flown in combat during World War II, Dick is coauthor with Dan Patterson of five books in the "Aviation Century" series. In Aviation Century The Early Years, the authors delve into how the field of aviation developed in a specific direction, beginning the Wright brothers' first flight, on through to the planes flown in World War I and the commercial and private planes of the 1920's and 1930's. Gilbert Taylor, writing in Booklist, noted that the book encompasses a "limited time span but a worldwide approach."

Aviation Century The Golden Age focuses primarily on the barnstorming pilots of the 1920's and 1930's and their aircraft. Writing in Esprit de Corps, Norm Shannon noted that the book includes "outstanding photos, artwork and a narrative that sweeps the reader through an era of speed-kings, long-distance queens like Amy Johnson, and the magnificent machines of yesterday." Aviation Century World War II covers the air war of World War II beginning with the German Blitzkrieg of Poland and through to the Battle of Britain and the role the various Allied air forces played in other battles, including those in the Middle East, the Pacific, China, Burma, and India. Esprit de Corps contributor Bill Twatio commented: "The third volume in a remarkable series of aviation books dazzles with its unique blend of research and photography." Commenting on both volumes in his review in Booklist, George Cohen noted: "Any readers interested in the history of flying will treasure these profusely illustrated books."

The fourth volume in the series, Aviation Century Wings of Change, details the development of commercial aviation following World War II and also the many non-commercial pilots who founded flying clubs. George Cohen, once again writing in Booklist, commented that "this one is an absorbing history of flight." Aviation Century War & Peace in the Air, is the concluding volume in the "Aviation Century" series and focuses primarily on jet flight in military and civilian aviation. Library Journal contributor John Carver Edwards wrote that the authors "have again given us unerring history, captivating depictions of aircraft, thought-provoking sidebars, and fascinating portraits."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2004, Gilbert Taylor, review of Aviation Century The Early Years, p. 940; December 1, 2004, George Cohen, review of Aviation Century The Golden Age and Aviation Century World War II, p. 627; September 1, 2005, George Cohen, review of Aviation Century Wings of Change, p. 34; November 1, 2006, George Cohen, review of Aviation Century War & Peace in the Air, p. 14.

Esprit de Corps, December, 2004, Bill Twatio, review of Aviation Century World War II, and Norm Shannon, review of Aviation Century the Golden Age, p. 24.

Library Bookwatch, February, 2005, review of Aviation Century the Golden Age and Aviation Century World War II.

Library Journal, February 1, 2005, John Carver Edwards, review of Aviation Century the Golden Age and Aviation Century World War II, p. 96; October 15, 2005, John Carver Edwards, review of Aviation Century Wings of Change, p. 67; November 1, 2006, John Carver Edwards, review of Aviation Century War & Peace in the Air, p. 86.

MBR Bookwatch, January, 2006, review of Aviation Century Wings of Change.

Photography & Design, November, 2005, Dan Patterson, "The Aviation Century Project: A Very Large Tale," p. 42.

SciTech Book News, March, 2006, review of Aviation Century Wings of Change.