Viewing page 6 of 38

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

[[stamped]] 
FROM THE HAROLD & MARVEL MOREHOUSE AVIATION PIONEERS COLLECTION 
NATIONAL AIR & SPACE MUSEUM
[[/stamped]]

ANTHONY "TONY" STADLMAN
Pioneer Aviator - Aircraft Manufacturer - Development Engineer

[[image]]

Anthony Stadlman was born at Kourim, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, January 12, 1886, the son of a land holder and jobber in dehydrated foods. He received his education in Prague and during his youth was a lover of sports, becoming an expert gymnast.

Mechanically inclined he loved to spend all available time in his uncle's blacksmith shop where he learned many mechanical skills that were later of great value to him. In 1906, at age 20, he was in line for military conscription which he deeply resented because he would have to serve in the oppressors army, so before he could be inducted he came to the United States. He knew some English, and went to Chicago where he got a job as a helper in the engine room of a hotel.

Continuing to work there Stadlman became interested in aviation as more of the progressive developments of the early aeroplane experiments became known. Amateur plane building was just starting in the Chicago area and he made several unsuccessful attempts to get into this work. By the fall of 1910 he had saved enough money to pay his admission to the Chicago School of Aviation, believing this would give him a start in the game, but this turned out to be a hoax.

1