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YOUR PURCHASE OF THESE BOOKS SUPPORTS THE WEB SITES THAT BRING TO YOU THE HISTORY BEHIND OLD AIRFIELD REGISTERS

Your copy of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register 1925-1936 with all the pilots' signatures and helpful cross-references to pilots and their aircraft is available at the link. 375 pages with black & white photographs and extensive tables

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The Congress of Ghosts (available as eBook) is an anniversary celebration for 2010.  It is an historical biography, that celebrates the 5th year online of www.dmairfield.org and the 10th year of effort on the project dedicated to analyze and exhibit the history embodied in the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ. This book includes over thirty people, aircraft and events that swirled through Tucson between 1925 and 1936. It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders. Order your copy at the link.

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Military Aircraft of the Davis Monthan Register 1925-1936 is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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Art Goebel's Own Story by Art Goebel (edited by G.W. Hyatt) is written in language that expands for us his life as a Golden Age aviation entrepreneur, who used his aviation exploits to build a business around his passion.  Available as a free download at the link.

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Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race (available as eBook) is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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Clover Field: The first Century of Aviation in the Golden State (available in paperback) With the 100th anniversary in 2017 of the use of Clover Field as a place to land aircraft in Santa Monica, this book celebrates that use by exploring some of the people and aircraft that made the airport great. 281 pages, black & white photographs.

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I'm looking for information and photographs of pilot Mantz and his airplane to include on this page. If you have some you'd like to share, please click this FORM to contact me.

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ALBERT PAUL MANTZ

Paul Mantz landed and signed the Peterson Field Register on Monday, June 12, 1933. He carried two unidentified passengers in the Fairchild 71 he identified as NC2K (S/N 675, manufactured in 1929). They arrived at Colorado Springs from Denver, CO, and identified their destination as Denver. The airplane belonged to Walter Quinton, a pilot who worked for Mantz.

W. Quinton Accident, The New York Times, May 10, 1940 (Source: NYT)
W. Quinton Accident, The New York Times, May 10, 1940 (Source: NYT)
Albert Paul Mantz, Ca. 1930s (Source: findagrave)

Fairchild owner Quinton appears in no Register, but, seven years after his visit to Colorado Springs with Mantz, he was involved in a mid-air collision in Los Angeles that took his life. The accident was reported in The New York Times (NYT) of May 10, 1940, right. He was engaged in photographic work at the time on behalf of Mantz's motion picture business.

One interesting statement in the article was, "Vultee officials said the high wing on the Lockheed and the low wing on the military plane caused a 'blind spot' in the pilot's vision...." Vultee officials must not have been familiar with the Mantz's accident Lockheed, because it was Davis-Monthan Register airplane NC117W, a ten-year-old Lockheed Sirius model 8A. That model had a low wing, so the accident had nothing to do with a high wing blocking visibility upwards.

Twenty-five years later, Mantz was killed on July 8, 1965 while flying for the movie "Flight of the Phoenix." At that time, he came out of semi-retirement to fly the Phoenix P-1 for the film. The movie, starring Jimmy Stewart, is a classic aviation story, and it is available today on DVD.

Mantz was performing flights for the camera with the Phoenix, a cobbled together aircraft that was the namesake and subject of the film. On his final pass the airplane's landing gear, actually skids, struck a desert hillock and the fuselage broke apart and cartwheeled, killing Mantz and seriously injuring a stuntman on board. You can find footage of the accident on YouTube linked from the Mantz family Web site, devoted to his memory. At the link are many other links to online biographies of Mantz, film clips and photo galleries.

Mantz has a modest Web presence. In addition, The New York Times archives (example, right) hold many articles about Mantz's business, racing history (both airplane and automobile), consulting relationship with Amelia Earhart's record flights and other aspects of his flying life. His obituary, from The New York Times, July 9, 1965, is exhibited at his main biography page at the Clover Field Register Web site at the link.

But his 61 intervening years were well-spent in pioneering aviation pursuits. During his career, he signed the Clover Field Register twice, the Peterson Field (CO) Register once, and the Albuquerque (NM) Register twice. He billed himself not as a "stunt pilot," but as a "precision pilot." He did much to prove that appellation, examples of which are documented at his Clover Field link.

U.S. Census information for Mantz is complete from his birth on August 2, 1903 at Alameda, CA to his death on July 8, 1965 in Arizona. Both his parents were educators. Mantz got his education in the U.S. Army where he learned to fly during the 1920s. His Census data is summarized at his Clover Field link. He was married twice; happily the second time to Theresa Mae Minor (Nee: Blair; b. August 1, 1905; d. April 1, 2006), the widow of fellow Register pilot Roy Minor. Mantz and Terri had three children; two of Minor's that he adopted, and Paul, Jr. with Terri. More information, and photographs, of his wives are at his Clover Field link.

First Anniversary, First Motion Picture Unit, 1943 (Source: Woodling)
First Anniversary, First Motion Picture Unit, 1943 (Source: Woodling)

 

 

 

 

 

Early on, he flew stunts in various movies and in 1932 he flew for Register pilot Howard Hughes in "Air Mail." In that film he flew his Stearman through a hangar open on both ends, with only a few feet of clearance on each side for his wings. His willingness to do so was not the only virtue that was attractive to movie studios. He provided readily-available aircraft and pilots, standard rates, and insurance to protect producers from the financial risks of accidents and downtime. He was successful, and more stunt business came his way. In this way, Mantz became very wealthy from the late 1930s onward. He developed a resume of over two dozen movie productions where he and his pilots provided the expertise and equipment to develop and execute the aerial scenes.

During World War II, beginning in 1942, Mantz served in the Army Air Corps' First Motion Picture Unit (FMPU). His team produced both training films and documentaries about military aviation.  He headed the “Culver City Commandos” of the First Motion Picture Unit, and was discharged in 1944 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. At left, courtesy of Guest Editor Bob Woodling, is the cover for a program celebrating the first anniversary of the FMPU.

His military experiences and necessities led him to invent and fabricate a number of aerial filming devices that were later adapted for his civilian business.

Please direct your browser to his Clover Field link to learn more about his life after WWII, his air racing experiences and the later merger of his company with that of Frank Tallman to form Tallmantz Aviation. Mantz flew with Transport pilot certificate T5011. He is buried at Costa Mesa, CA.

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