VULTEE

Jerry (Gerard) Vultee designed major parts of Lockheed Vega, Air Express, Sirius and Orion. When Lockheed-Detroit failed Vultee formed Airplane Development Corp. (see Airplane) January 1932, producing advanced stressed-skin cantilever monoplanes: assisted by Cord ($50,000), whose American Airlines was sponsor, built high-speed 8-passenger V-1 (19 February 1933), followed by V-11 attack bomber (June 1935), many versions; and in 1936 in giant new plant at Downey (LA) Vultee planned family of aircraft with common parts. Not many V-48 Vanguard fighters, but 11,537 Valiant trainers, Army BT-13 or -15. On move to Downey became Vultee Aircraft Division of Avco, and after Vulteeā€™s death (age 38 in crash of a Stinson in 1938) Vultee Aircraft Inc., still division of Avco, in 1940 taking over Stinson whose Nashville plant was vastly expanded to produce Vultee Vengeance dive-bomber. In December 1941, just after Pearl Harbor, Vultee bought 34% controlling interest in Consolidated, with which it merged March 1943 to form Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft, later called Convair.

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