Today the name Vultee is not as well known as, say, Douglas or Northrup but Gerard Vultee was the equal of the better-known names as an engineer and director, rapidly advancing the design of aircraft with aerodynamic all-metal structures and retractable landing gear in the 1930s. His company began as the Airplane Develop-ment Corporation but the planes were known as Vultees earning a solid reputation as efficient attack bombers. By mid-1944 the company had made 1000s of Valiant Trainers and Vengeance dive bombers but Vultee and his wife died in a plane crash in 1938 and he never saw the full potential of his early dreams and work.