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William B. Scott

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.williambscott.com

Twitter

WilliamBScott

Genre

Fiction, Thriller, Nonfiction

Influences

Stephen Coonts

Member Since

January 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/thepermitauthor

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William B. Scott is a full-time author (www.williambscott.com). He retired as the Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology, following a 22-year career with the international magazine. He also served as Senior National Editor in Washington, and in Avionics and Senior Engineering Editor positions in Los Angeles. He covered advanced aerospace and weapons technology, business, flight testing and military operations, wrote more than 2,500 stories for the magazine, and received 17 editorial awards.

His nonfiction book, COMBAT CONTRAILS: VIETNAM, was released in late-2021. A collection of 18 stories told by warriors who lived them, it's the first in a series of CONTRAILS books.

A solo-written novel, "The Permit," is based on William B. Scott is a full-time author (www.williambscott.com). He retired as the Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology, following a 22-year career with the international magazine. He also served as Senior National Editor in Washington, and in Avionics and Senior Engineering Editor positions in Los Angeles. He covered advanced aerospace and weapons technology, business, flight testing and military operations, wrote more than 2,500 stories for the magazine, and received 17 editorial awards.

His nonfiction book, COMBAT CONTRAILS: VIETNAM, was released in late-2021. A collection of 18 stories told by warriors who lived them, it's the first in a series of CONTRAILS books.

A solo-written novel, "The Permit," is based on actual events associated with the murder of his eldest son, Erik.

He's also coauthored four other books: License to Kill: The Murder of Erik Scott (nonfiction); Inside the Stealth Bomber: The B-2 Story (nonfiction); Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III (fiction); and a Space Wars sequel, entitled Counterspace: The Next Hours of World War III.

Bill is a Flight Test Engineer (FTE) graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and a licensed commercial pilot with instrument and multiengine ratings. In 12 years of military and civilian flight testing, plus evaluating aircraft for Aviation Week over 22 years, he's logged approximately 2,000 hours of flight time on 81 aircraft types. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University-Sacramento.

During a nine-year Air Force career, Bill served as aircrew on classified airborne-sampling missions, collecting nuclear debris by flying through radioactive clouds; an electronics engineering officer at the National Security Agency, developing space communications security systems for satellites; and an instrumentation and flight test engineer on U.S. Air Force fighter and transport aircraft development programs. He also served as a civilian FTE/program manager for three aerospace companies: General Dynamics (F-16 Full Scale Development), Falcon Jet Corp. (Coast Guard HU-25A development and certification), and Tracor Flight Systems Inc. (Canadair Challenger development and certification, plus numerous fighter, transport and helicopter test programs).

Bill and his wife, Linda, live in Colorado. They have two grown sons, Erik and Kevin. Unfortunately, Erik was killed through a senseless, horrific tragedy in July 2010.

Find out more at: www.williambscott.com
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William B. Scott’s books

Average rating: 3.68 · 213 ratings · 38 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III--A Wargame Scenario by Michael J. Coumatos, William J. Birnes, George Noory (Foreword) 3.65 avg rating — 146 ratings — published 2007 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Counterspace: The Next Hours of World War III by William B. Scott (Goodreads Author), Michael J. Coumatos, William J. Birnes 3.59 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 2009 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Permit 3.92 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	COMBAT CONTRAILS: VIETNAM (Contrails, #1) 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	License to Kill: The Murder of Erik Scott 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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William B. Scott's Blog

MEDIC!

A Work of Fiction

Engin_Akyurt

“Medic! Medic!”

An attack by swarms of armed drones in the wee hours of a gloomy, wet morning had devastated the dispersed Army platoon. As he sprinted or crawled to scattered fighting positions, almost every soldier Lieutenant Cory Dixon encountered had been hit during the storm of air-burst shrapnel.

He located his unit’s sole medic, frantically twisting a tour

William is Currently Reading

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Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI

by Wynton Hall

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Mar 18, 2026 03:10PM

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In Times to Come - Destiny

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AMERICAN APOCALYPSE : The Second American Civil War

by Kurt Schlichter (Goodreads Author)

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Oct 28, 2025 07:43PM

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Quotes by William B. Scott (?)

“Are Cops Now America’s Most Dangerous Domestic Terrorists?”
― William B. Scott, The Permit

tags: erik-scott, techno-thriller

1 likes

William’s Quotes

“Fiction is only fiction because it is yet to be proven.”
― Robert M. Roberts

tags: fiction, quote

28 likes

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings.”
― Dave Barry

tags: business, humor, meetings, work

540 likes

“Are Cops Now America’s Most Dangerous Domestic Terrorists?”
― William B. Scott, The Permit

tags: erik-scott, techno-thriller

1 likes

“All really great flying adventures begin at dawn.”
― Stephen Coonts

tags: flying

20 likes

“Don't let the assholes grind you down.”
― Stephen Coonts

7 likes

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William’s Friend Comments

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message 1: by William

Jan 16, 2014 04:49PM

Fiction based on the actual events of my son's murder-by-cop, "The Permit's" theme can be summed up by one of the primary character's message to killer-cops: "You kill, you lie, you die."

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