On 09 Mar 2004 06:58:33 GMT, (Regnirps) wrote:

(Corky Scott) wrote:

PS, both Tallman and his equally famous partner Paul Mantz died in
stunt related airplane crashes. Mantz was the pilot who landed the
B-17 with gear up for the opening sequences of "12 O'Clock High". He
died in the crash of the cobbled together "Flight of the Phoenix"
airplane which did not climb as well as anticipated to clear a sand
dune after the director requested one more pass. At least I think the
director had requested one more pass. Perhaps not, perhaps it was
just that one more pass had been scheduled. Not sure.

Fascinating. Perhaps you know who flew under the bridges, etc in "The Blue
Max"? I recall being shocked when Art Scholl was killed filming the spin for
"Top Gun". He was the best known aerobatic flyer of the pervious 20 years.

-- Charlie Springer

I'm sure it's here somewhere in a book on Hollywood's aviation films
but I don't know it offhand.

The speculation about Art Scholl's fatal accident is that the camera
placed behind his cockpit for this sequence put the center of gravity
just a bit too far to the rear such that his flat spin became
unrecoverable. He apparently did not attempt to bail out. Don't know
if that was because he chose not to wear a chute for this film
sequence or if he just kept attempting to recover all they way to
impact.

Corky Scott

PS, regarding the gear up sequence for 12 O'Clock High, Mantz
discovered during the landing that despite the gear being retracted,
he could still affect some directional control using the brakes. In a
B-17, the gear retracts into the inner engine nacelles but protrudes
some even when fully retracted. Mantz was requested to blow through a
tent during the skid after touching down and he found that he could
easily correct his direction using the brakes even though he was
skidding on his belly on turf.

He was flying the bomber solo.

I always wondered why in the world a tent would be located direcly
beside the runway of a bomber base, now I know: it was put there for
the bomber to plow through it for the film. Dramatic effect don'tcha
know.