Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz ( August 2 , 1903 – July 8 , 1965 ) was a noted air racing pilot , movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid - 1960s . He gained fame on two stages : Hollywood and in air races . Early years . Paul Mantz ( the name he used throughout his life ) was the son of a school principal , and was raised in Redwood City , California . He developed his interest in flying at an early age ; as a young boy , his first flight on fabricated canvas wings was aborted when his mother stopped him as he tried to launch off the branch of a tree in his yard . In 1915 , at age 12 , he attended the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco and witnessed the world famous Lincoln Beachey make his first ever flight in his new monoplane , the Lincoln Beachey Special . Mantz took his first flying lesson at age 16 using money that he made from driving a hearse during the influenza epidemic of 1919 . Although he had accumulated hours towards his private pilot certificate , Mantz quit flying altogether when he witnessed the death of his instructor . On September 24 , 1924 , Mantz became a part of a famous aviation event when he lent his car battery to the Douglas World Cruiser that had " dead - sticked " into a field on its way to San Francisco for a celebration of the world flight . He was invited to join the festivities at Crissy Field where many noted military aviators tried to persuade him to pursue a career in military flying . U . S . Army air cadet . Mantz 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 with false documents and became a successful cadet . ( He also conveniently did not tell officials about his prior flying experience . ) 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 , did a " victory roll " 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 . 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 . A main requirement was Associated Motion Picture Pilots ( AMPP ) membership but that was only gained after employment in the industry . In an effort to gain notoriety , on July 6 , 1930 Mantz set a record in flying 46 consecutive outside loops as a part of the dedication ceremonies of the San Mateo airport . Although he gained recognition as an accomplished pilot , without the AMPP card , he still could not work in Hollywood . However in 1931 , Mantz flew the climactic stunt in " The Galloping Ghost " which required him to fly down a canyon and just miss a prominent sycamore . Misjudging his approach , Mantz crashed into the tree but the film crew got their shot and he got his AMPP card . 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 " Paul Mantz Air Services " air charter company ( jokingly christened the " Honeymoon Express " ) also flourished and became a favorite among Hollywood stars , many of whom , such as Clark Gable and James Cagney became friends . One of his helicopters appears in the Errol Flynn factual short film , " Cruise of the Zac " a ( 1952 ) , as featured on the 2 disc Special Edition DVD of " The Adventures of Robin Hood " . Other activities . During this period , Mantz carried out a number of " mercy " flights including transporting a deep sea diver to the Mare Island Navy Yard where a decompression chamber was able to save his life , flying 15 Mexican fishermen to safety after their boat began to break up and assisting 53 trapped firefighters in the Santa Barbara mountain area by dropping supplies . Mantz had to fly low through an inferno in order to make the drop . After Tom Mix ' s accident and death , Mantz was also chosen to fly the body of Mix home . In 1937 , a few months before she vanished over the western Pacific ocean , acting as a technical advisor , Mantz tutored Amelia Earhart in long - distance flying and navigation ( and had accompanied her as a co - pilot on the aborted first attempt of her world flight ) . Air racing also became a passion for Mantz in the late - 1930s . He entered his Lockheed Orion in the Bendix Trophy transcontinental dash from Los Angeles to Cleveland , placing third in 1938 and 1939 . On July 4 , 1938 , Mantz flew from Wichita to Burbank , California , accompanied by Paramount press agent , pilot , and pulp writer , Edward Churchill , in an attempt to break the speed - dash record . The stunt was part of the promotion for the film " Men With Wings " . The flight ran into several difficulties . The motor overheated over the Grand Canyon . When they reached Burbank , the landing gear jammed and it took 30 minutes to work them loose , while thousands of spectators looked from the ground and the fuel ran perilously low . Churchill was stricken with carbon monoxide poisoning and had to be treated by a physician after landing . World War II . During World War II , Mantz enlisted and was commissioned a major ( later promoted to colonel ) , serving in the First Motion Picture Unit ( FMPU ) in California . Following an August 1944 honorable discharge , Mantz purchased a fleet of 475 wartime surplus bombers and fighters ( including North American P - 51 Mustang fighters ) for $ 55 , 000 to use in film work . Mantz joked that he had the sixth - largest air force in the world , and sold the fleet ' s onboard fuel for a profit on his initial investment . Retaining only 12 aircraft , the remainder of his " air force " was sold off as " scrap " at a handsome profit . Racing pilot . With his film fleet in place , Mantz chose one of the P - 51 fighters to convert it into a Bendix Trophy racer . With his long - time mechanic , Cort Johnson , he totally rebuilt the P - 51C , stripping out all military issue equipment and modifying the wings with " wet " fuel cells . In the 1946 Bendix Trophy race , all the competitors flew similar converted warbirds but Mantz prevailed with an average speed of 435 mph . He went on to win the Bendix for an unprecedented three consecutive years ( 1946 – 1948 ) with over $ 125 , 000 . 00 in winnings . Postwar film career . In 1945 , Mantz flew a P - 40 and directed aerial sequences in " God is My Co - Pilot " . 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 . His longest single flying assignment was in the late 1950s , for the TV series " Sky King " . Mantz piloted a converted B - 25 bomber to film footage for Cinerama travelogues . According to an interview in the documentary " Cinerama Adventure " with Mantz ' s cameraman , in one instance , Mantz flew through an active volcano and narrowly escaped crashing into the mouth of the volcano when the engines died due to oxygen starvation . Mantz ' s B - 25 was outfitted with a refrigerator and other amenities for comfort as he used it for world travel on film assignments . In 1961 , aged 58 , Mantz formed Tallmantz Aviation with pilot Frank Tallman , supplying aircraft along with their personal stunt flying services to movie and television productions . Family life . In 1932 , Mantz married Myrtle Harvey , one of his former flying students , but divorced in 1935 . He remarried two years later to Terry Mac Minor and had a son , Paul , with his second wife , while her two children , Roy and Tenita , were subsequently adopted . The Mantz family lived on Balboa Island , off Newport Beach , California , where Mantz had a yacht . After years of successful ventures in both air racing and movie work , he had accumulated more than $ 10 million in profits , and by 1965 , was planning his retirement . When his partner , Frank Tallman , broke his leg in a freak accident , Mantz stepped in to finish the aerial scenes for one last movie project . Death . Mantz died on July 8 , 1965 while working on the movie " The Flight of the Phoenix " , produced and directed by Robert Aldrich . Flying a very unusual aircraft , the Tallmantz Phoenix P - 1 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 ' s alcohol consumption before the flight and said the resulting impairment to his " efficiency and judgment " contributed to the accident . Thirteen years later his business partner Frank Tallman also died in an aviation mishap . Some who were with Mantz during the shoot dispute that he was flying under the influence . It should be noted that the toxicology tests were performed several hours after the accident ; at that time it was not understood that , in the absence of refrigeration , normal postmortem biochemical processes produce blood ethanol and yield a false indication of BAC level . The Civil Aeronautics Board findings of blood alcohol and pilot impairment may well be incorrect . The final credits of " The Flight of the Phoenix " bear a tribute to Paul Mantz : " It should be remembered . . . that Paul Mantz , a fine man and a brilliant flyer , gave his life in the making of this film . . . " In the TV movie 1988 film , Mantz was portrayed by Kurt Rhoads .