Gerard "Jerry" Vultee (1900-1938) has been described as a little known man who played a leading role in the drama of aviation in America. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he showed an interest in aircraft at an early age, building model planes. The Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in his infancy, and as he grew he had the opportunity to watch aviation grow with him from infancy to the brink of the dominance enjoyed by military aircraft in World War II.