William E Appleby was an aircraft historian active from c. 1910-1960. He was a compiler of an archive of manned flight and he compiled an Encyclopedia of the World's Aircraft and Astronautics. He was also known to have made models for Miniature Engineering (London) Ltd and Meccano.

Appleby was born in Newcastle in c 1902. He started his own business at the age of 17. He moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in 1946, where he worked as a model maker.