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Anthony Stadlman

"Vega. Now, she was a plane. And what a beautiful name," Tony Stadlman says with affection, in a voice still tinted with the charm of a Bohemian accent.

An aircraft that takes its name from the brilliant white star in the constellation Lyra should have something going for it. And Vega did. It was the talk of the flying fraternity because of the records it set, and the greats who established them: Sir Hubert Wilkins in Antarctica, Arthur Goebel with "Yankee Doodle," Amelia Earhart and Ruth Nichols, Harold Gatty and Wiley Post with "Winnie Mae." Vega is a very big part of Tony. He helped perfect its revolutionary multi-plywood monocoque fuselage in association with Allan and Malcolm Lockheed and J. K. Northrop, and he helped pioneer the manufacturing technique for the high-wing beauties.

Also, with Northrop, came the pioneering work on the famous "Flying Wing," while the two were employed by Douglas Aircraft Co.

Perhaps engineering innovation first came to him in his uncle's blacksmith shop where he learned the mechanical skills he later used as an aircraft designer and barnstormer in Illinois and Wisconsin. "Too long ago," he says wistfully. Stadlman's contributions to hydroplane design from 1911 through 1915 are a special source of pride, for his efforts helped in the acceptance of these craft in World War I, and the establishment of flying boat schools.

[[image - small drawing of a propeller]]

Anthony Stadlman: born Kourim, Bohemia, January 12, 1886.

[[image No. 126 - black & white photograph of Stadlman, Howell, and Jaeger in Chicago, 1913]]

[[image No. 127 - black & white photograph of Stadlman working inside the shop]]

[[image No. 128 - black & white photograph of Stadlman, Rodman, Lockheed, and Northrop in front of a biplane]]

[[caption]] The "Howell," a design of Esjay Aero Corporation (Stadlman-Jaeger), with from left, Tony Stadlman, LeRoy Z. Howell, and Ed Jaeger, Chicago, 1913 (126), and Stadlman inside Esjay shop working in street clothes (127). In Santa Barbara, Calif., 1919, Stadlman (left), Burton R. Rodman, hat in hand, Allan H. Lockheed, and Jack K. Northrop. In gunner's cockpit, Malcolm Lockheed (128). [[/caption]]

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