[Nick Beale]

He changed what was possible in aviation publishing and all of us owe him a lot for that.

His "Messerschmitt '09 Gallery" was the first book I saw that explained WHY a photo was captioned as a G-10, a K-4 etc. He was happy to use photos of wrecks rather than captured and repainted specimens of German aircraft. I can also remember my long-awaited copy of "Jet Planes of the Third Reich" arriving about two minutes before I had to go out. That book proved a revelation when I got to look at it later that day. On a personal note, he put me in touch with Ferdinando D'Amico and J. Richard Smith for the first time.