Airport Journals


The Main Thing—To Fly Again	Dec '06

By Cliff Robertson

Cont. from November

In last month's column, I went back to the late 1950s and described how I met and affixed myself to Tallmantz Aviation. How Frank Tallman and I would fly his World War II open cockpit Stearman biplane over the orange groves of Orange County. How flying took precedence over my then budding film career. And how, on one fateful weekend, Frank broke his leg (pushing his son's go-kart!), leaving Paul Mantz to replace Frank to flying a makeshift plane off the Arizona desert for the film "Flight of the Phoenix." Paul had left most of the flying in the hands of his partner, Frank, and younger pilots. As we said goodbye, I felt a cloud of concern. It was a tough and very hot shoot. Flying a makeshift airplane off deep Arizona sands, in the depth of summer, with stuntman Bob Rose as passenger.

I was back in New York City when I got the news: "Legendary Hollywood stunt pilot Paul Mantz killed in Arizona disaster." It was hard to believe. Paul had survived in the most dangerous profession for years without a scratch. Suddenly he was gone. Later on, I asked Oscar Rudolph, the second unit director, what happened. He explained that they needed only two takes of the airplane leaving the desert, and that they would do a touch-and-go on one flight. The rest could be done in the editing room. Paul, ever the generous stuntman, decided to give them one extra, "for the road." It was that extra touch-and-go that caused the crash. The wheels of the aircraft hit deep sand. Paul instinctively advanced the throttle to raise the aircraft. The sand was too deep—the aircraft split in half. Bob Rose, stuntman and passenger, was thrown clear, but Paul was trapped and died immediately.

One couldn't help but wonder "if only." If only Frank had not responded to his boy's request for a shove in his go-kart. If only Frank had left his house a minute earlier. If only Paul had let one of the younger pilots fly this hazardous stunt. If only Paul had tried only one touch-and-go. If only... Call it fate. Call it predestination. Call it bad luck. Whatever it was, it was a tragic ending to Hollywood's legendary stunt pilot, Paul Mantz.

Frank went on to continue his fabulous flying career, complete with a prosthetic leg, which did not hinder his indomitable spirit. He now walked with an ivory-knobbed cane, his mustache dapper as ever. We flew together many times until one day when Frank, returning from a movie location shoot in northern California, dropped the location director off at the Santa Monica Airport, and took off and proceeded to head south to Orange County Airport. On that fateful day, he was heard to say he might fly to Yuma because of a fierce storm breaking over the San Gabriel Mountains.

The next morning, as I was getting ready to return to my home in New York City, I got the news that Frank had crashed in the mountains east of Orange County. I canceled my flight and stayed another four days for the funeral, to be held at a church in Orange. Seven hundred attended that funeral. Aviation men and women from both coasts. Pilots and stuntmen galore. But I was shocked that no Hollywood stars attended. The church was only 30 miles south of Hollywood. Hollywood had lost a great pilot—showman. I had lost a great friend.

I returned east and immediately headed for a vintage biplane. Took off and flew over Long Island Sound. Did a few aerobatics and said a silent prayer to my friends Frank and Paul. Not a big deal, but a beau geste. After all—the main thing was...to fly again.

Academy Award and Emmy Award winning screen star Cliff Robertson has owned and flown a wide array of aircraft, including a Spitfire MK IX, a Messerschmitt ME-108, a French aerobatic Stampe SV4 biplane, a Grob Astir glider (in which he still holds a distance record) and a Beech Baron 58. A holder of single, multi, instrument and commercial licenses, as well as balloon, the pilot of many thousands of hours has accumulated many aviation awards, including EAA's highest Eagle award and the AOPA Sharples award. He was recently inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and the American Veteran Association has honored Cliff as Veteran of the Year. His columns will appear in his soon-to-be-published book. For information about Cliff, visit [http://www.cliffrobertson.info].