Stunt Pilot Paul Mantz

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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Flight of the Phoenix

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ghoolsby — 12 years ago(January 30, 2014 10:41 AM)

I just read this about the stunt pilot who died in the making of this film. In 1944, after being discharged from the Air Corps, he spent $55,000 on 475 surplus bombers and fighters, figuring Hollywood would need flying WW2 aircraft for movies later on. Right after the purchase, he made his money back by reselling the fuel that was in the fuel tanks of those 475 aircraft. After that, he picked out 12 airplanes to keep and scrapped the rest, making even more profit. Amazing!

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mike_cable — 12 years ago(January 30, 2014 02:10 PM)

That is pretty amazing, very clever thinking. Imagine the space required to store those 475 aircraft! Lucky he just kept 12.

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Moneygrip99 — 12 years ago(March 23, 2014 02:30 AM)

Awesome backstory! Thanks!

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dustbyte — 11 years ago(April 07, 2014 08:14 AM)

Great story. Tragedy what happened to him.