Paul Mantz

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Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid 1960s. He was the son of a school principal, was raised in Redwood City, California and developed his interest in flying at an early age.

1 US Army air cadet
2 Hollywood stunt pilot
3 Death
4 Awards
5 See also
6 Bibliography
7 External links

[edit] US Army air cadet

Mantz learned to fly when he was 17 and spent several years barnstorming. He applied for admission to the United States Army flight school at March Field, California but was told he needed at least two years of college to be eligible. Apparently resorting to a ruse involving Stanford University stationery he managed to gain admission and became a successful cadet.

In 1927, shortly before his graduation at March Field, Mantz was flying solo over the Coachella Valley when he spotted a train heading west over the empty desert floor up the long grade from Indio. He rolled over into a dive, leveled off a few feet above the track and flew head-on towards the train as the engineer repeatedly sounded the whistle. At the last moment Mantz pulled up and flew away. This sort of dangerous stunt was fairly common during the early era of loosely regulated flying in the 1920s but the train's passengers included ranking officers coming to March Field to participate in the graduation ceremonies and Mantz was subsequently dismissed from the Army. His instructor reportedly made it clear to Paul that he had the makings of an exceptional pilot and encouraged him to continue a career in aviation.

[edit] Hollywood stunt pilot

After working briefly in commercial aviation, Mantz went to Hollywood, attracted by the large sums of money movie stunt pilots were making at the time. Howard Hughes was among his first clients. After much difficulty finding steady stunt work he accepted a particularly risky assignment, flying a Stearman biplane through a hangar with less than five feet of clearance off each wingtip for the 1932 film Air Mail. Mantz reportedly treated the challenge as an issue of thorough planning, which set him apart from most of the pilots then flying stunts for the movies.

Air Mail was a hit and as word spread about his success in getting through the hangar unscathed, Mantz found more work and his professional ideas about stunt flying were gradually accepted by the studios. United Air Services, Paul's fledgling company at United Airport in Burbank, offered readily-available planes and pilots, standard rates and insurance to protect producers from the financial risks of accidents and downtime. Mantz's company grew steadily along with the public's fascination for flying as the studios made increasing numbers of aviation related films. His air charter service also flourished and became a favorite among Hollywood stars, many of whom became friends.

In 1937 Mantz tutored Amelia Earhart in long-distance flying and navigation a few months before she vanished over the western Pacific ocean (and had accompanied her as technical advisor on the aborted first attempt of her world flight). During World War II Mantz served in the US Army Air Corps' so-called First Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, California (which produced training films), acting for a time as commanding officer.

Mantz won the Bendix Trophy (a racing award) for three consecutive years (1946-1948) in a converted war-surplus P-51. His longest single flying assignment was in the late 1950s, for the TV series Sky King. In 1961, aged 58, he formed Tallmantz Aviation with pilot Frank Tallman, supplying airplanes along with their personal stunt flying services to movie directors. Mantz piloted a Boeing B-17 for the belly-landing scenes in Twelve O'Clock High and the footage was reused in several other movies.

[edit] Death

Mantz died on July 8, 1965 while working on the movie The Flight of the Phoenix. Flying a very unusual aircraft built especially for the film Mantz struck a small hillock while skimming over a desert site in Arizona for a second take. As Mantz attempted to recover by opening the throttle to its maximum the over-stressed aircraft broke in two and nosed over into the ground, killing Mantz instantly (Bobby Rose, a stuntman standing behind Mantz in the cockpit and representing a character played by Hardy Kruger was seriously injured). The FAA investigation noted Mantz' alcohol consumption before the flight and said the resulting impairment to his "efficiency and judgment" contributed to the accident. 13 years later his business partner Frank Tallman also died in an aviation mishap.