The Final Flight of the "Phoenix"
July 8th, 1965
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Born in Alameda, California, on August 8th, 1903, Paul Mantz first learned to fly when he was 17. After spending several years barnstorming, and washing out of Army Flight School in 1927 for buzzing a railroad car filled with officers, Mantz returned to California and started his own charter air service. He eventually move into movie stunt flying. He originally found it difficult to break into movies because he was not a member of the Associated Motion Picture Pilots union. |
Humble Beginnings...
To get the union officials to notice him, he set a new world record of 46 consecutive outside loops in July 1930. Soon after, he earned his union card. He really became noticed by Hollywood were he flew as a stunt pilot for the Howard Hughes war epic, “Hell’s Angels”. Although Mantz performed many aerial stunts, he specialized in flying through buildings. In the 1932 movie "Air Mail", he guided a Stearman plane through a 45-foot-wide aircraft.
A well-rounded pilot, he also tutored Amelia Earhart in long-distance flying and navigation before her attempted round-the-world flight in 1937. During the Second World War, Mantz served as commanding officer of the Army Air Corps' First Motion Picture Unit, delivering hundreds of training films and documentaries on the air war. After the world, Mantz owned the fifth largest Air Force in the world, buying surplus aircraft from the United States government after World War II, as well as winning the Bendix Trophy Race three times between 1946 and 1948. He developed a number of camera and aeronautical innovations to improve aerial photography, and continued as a stunt flyer (he once flew under the Golden Gate Bridge for the movie "This is Cinerama"), a director of aerial photography, and a supplier of aircraft and pilots for the movies for two decades after the war.
He formed a company, with legendary pilot Frank Tallman, named Tallmantz Aviation in 1961 based at Orange County Airport (now John Wayne Airport) in Southern California. Together, they provided pilots, camera planes, and a small fleet of antique and historic aircraft for movie and television productions. Mantz loved restoring and rebuilding rare aircraft, such as a copy of Lindbergh’s “Spirit of Saint Louis”.
A Project Like No Other...However, Mantz and Tallman's collaboration did not last long. In 1965, the two men were working on the movie “Flight of the Phoenix” when Tallman, who was supposed to fly a sequence for the film, shattered his kneecap during a fall at home pushing his son’s go-kart, and Mantz, covering for his injured partner, readily took his place. The plane, originally a C-82, was designed by Otto Timm (Charles Lindbergh's first flight instructor, and whom regularly worked with Mantz and Tallman), and was built by Tallmantz Aviation. With a wingspan of 45 feet, and a length of 42 feet, the “Phoenix” was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 nine-cylinder radial engine, taken from a North American T-6 as were the wheels and several other parts. The wings were from a Beech C-45, and the wing, tail, and undercarriage wire bracing was made out of clothesline, and was intentionally made to look flimsy, although it was actually quite sturdy. The fuselage and empennage were all hand-built from scratch, using plywood over a wooden frame. The cockpit was shallow and makeshift. The pilot would sit down, while another person stood behind him, strapped to a stringer. It was registered with the Federal Aviation Administration as tail number N93082. |
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Cameras
Rolling...
The site of the filming was Buttercup Valley, a remote desert spot nearly twenty miles from Yuma in Arizona. Early on the morning of July 8th, 1965, the production team placed cameras at each end of the valley. Mantz, a pilot with over 25,000 hours of flight experience, and his co-pilot, 64 year-old Bobby Rose, were to fly the “Phoenix” and try to get it down on the ground near the first camera position, and then pull up by the time they reached the second position. Mantz' first pass was a little long in landing, and he overshot the first camera. The high temperatures were taking their toll on the improvised plane, and it was not easily controlled. While not perfect, this first pass was good enough for the movie. But the director asked for another pass, probably as “insurance".
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On the second pass of one of the final shots of the film, one of the landings skids of the improvised aircraft caught a hard patch of ground, and started to lose control. Mantz kicked the engine’s throttle to full, and broke free of the dirt, but the plane was already stressed to breaking point. At over 90 MPH, the plane snapped apart and, momentarily, the two crewmembers flipped forward and hung out of the cockpit. As the break apart continued, the wings turned under the plane’s main body, and toppled on top of the two men, throwing Rose clear of the crash, but pinning Mantz. The cameras were still rolling, capturing the entire sordid event on celluloid. People rushed towards the crash site, in an effort to see what could be done. Both crew members were expedited to the hospital in Yuma. Mantz was killed instantly, and the crash broke the pelvis and left shoulder of Bobby Rose. |
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PostscriptUnfortunately, Mantz might have survived the mishap, as the cockpit portion of the aircraft was unharmed, but instead of a crash helmet like he would normally wear in an open cockpit, he was requested to wear a soft-brim hat that actor James Stewart also wore in the film. Over 400 people came to Mantz’ funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood, including Jimmy Stewart and Jimmy Doolittle. Mantz was cremated and inurned at Pacific View Memorial Park, in the Mausoleum of the Pacific’s Palm Court and Alcove of Devotion, Niche 43. |
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The Federal Aviation Administration determined that Mantz misjudged his altitude, and in the inadvertent touchdown, the airframe failed due to overload stresses. The investigators also stated the Mantz' alcohol consumption prior to the flight contributed to the accident by impairing his "efficiency and judgment". After the crash, an O-47, the only plane of its type then in the air was rented from the Ontario Air Museum (now Planes of Fame) to finish the flying sequences. |
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| The 1965 film is dedicated
to Mantz' memory, stating "It
should be remembered ... that Paul Mantz, a fine man and a
brilliant flyer gave his life in the making of this film..." This O-47 was at Freeman Field. Tallman, heartbroken by the accident, blamed himself for Mantz' death. The injury to Tallman’s kneecap later became infected, and ultimately he lost his leg. Bobby Rose returned to work at 20th Century Fox in early August, but did little work in Hollywood afterwards. He passed away in 1993. The movie went on to become a box office hit,
and was remade in 2004. |
Behind the Scenes of Flight of the Phoenix
Sound recordist and teacher Rodger Pardee documented his work making
extensive audio recordings for Flight
of the Phoenix, using the same C-119
flown during shooting of the film (see
Sound Effects Recording Sessions: C119 Flying
Boxcar). This photo shows Roger with
all his recording equipment, in front of the plane.
He points out that this C-119 has been fitted with an auxiliary jet engine above the fuselage, as many of the planes were, to assist takeoffs when the plane is heavily loaded. Roger also photographed the cockpit (90K JPEG).
Ralph Pettersen has some information about this particular plane in his
Mysteries at Greybull WY.
It was received by the Royal Canadian Air Force on 29 July 1953, and
after retirement was sold by Crown Assets Disposal Corporation to
Hawkins & Powers, in 1981 or perhaps 1977, and given registration number
15501. It was stored at Greybull airport in Wyoming, where H&P maintains
the
Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting.
Pettersen says, "N15501
made its way to Namibia, Africa during December 2003, to participate in
a movie (remake of Flight of the
Phoenix). This flight must be
considered an epic undertaking in itself." It flew to Africa via the
Canary Islands, and returned to to Greybull WY via Brazil in June 2004.
Flight of the Phoenix
was indeed a remake of a 1965 film, based on the 1964 novel of the same
name by Ellleston Trevor. The first film version was produced and
directed by Robert Aldrich in 1965, starred Jimmy Stewart and Richard
Attenborough, and was shot in Buttercup Valley, Arizona, a desert site
that had been used many times for movies. Production of the original
film unfortunately included the death of stunt pilot Paul Mantz while
flying the rebuilt "Phoenix" (see
Crash of the Phoenix.)
The full-size Phoenix in the 2004 film could be taxied but not flown;
the flying scenes were done with radio-controlled models. But this did
not protect the set from tragic accidents; second-unit cameraman Ciaran
Barry was struck and badly injured by an 800-pound model plane (see
Flight of the Phoenix
at Wikipedia.)
James D. West www.IndianaMilitary.org