Art Scholl

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:41 am

What actually happened to the film stunt pilot and aerobatics performer Art Scholl causing his death?

I know he was somehow killed during the making of Top Gun. I ahve searched the web and found no report explaining the event.

Also, what did he actually fly in the film Top Gun?

treadigraph · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:56 am

Very dim and distant memory Dave...

I believe he was spinning a Pitts with an camera attached to provide external footage for the F-14 spin scene in Top Gun which kills one of the main characters... The Pitts failed to recover and crashed into the Pacific.

Sad end for a great pilot.

Cvairwerks · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:05 am

Art was shooting some film in a two seat Pitts, with a camera in the front hole. Speculation is that during an inverted spin sequence, the camera came loose or started to move around the cockpit and interfered with the the controls or actually got into the rear cockpit. Art radioed the crew that he had a problem and within the next 20 seconds or so, the Pitts hit the water. If I remember correctly, the rudder was the only piece of the aircraft that was recovered.

The scenes being filmed were to be inserted after Maverick goes out to the instructor's home. The comment about having to get him (meaning Mav.) back into a cockpit was left in the film. Don't know if it was an editing mistake or not to have left it in. It does make kind of an awkward jump from there to the nect scene.

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:11 am

Thanks for that. Now it's a little clearer for me.

I rememebr seeing him often on TV when I was a kid in That's Incredible doing stunts, and I think maybe other shows too.

I also remember he had a specially modified Chipmunk, and a little dog that flew with him during aerobatics.

CrazyCavia · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:55 am

On the Top Gun Special Edition DVD there is a documentary called Danger Zone: The making of Top Gun which has a segment called The Need for Speed Production: Air with a 5 minutes piece about Art Scholl which shows footage of Art with his dog.

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:01 am

Thanks. My mate just got the DVD, so I'll ask if his version has the making of on it. I haven't seen the film in some time so I might have toi invite myself round there for a watch on his big tv.

treadigraph · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:44 am

If I may drift the thread a little, has anyone seen "The Pursuit of D B Cooper"?

Apart from some great footage shot in one of the scrappers surrounding Davis Monthan, there is a chase sequence in which Treat Williams in a Stearman duster chases Robert Duvall in a car - awesome bit of crazy flying by Art Scholl, I think at one point he missed an on-comning car by not much at all!

RickH · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 9:44 am

Art's dog was named Aileron, I have a closeup picture of them that I took at Harlingen after he flew his routine. He was working the crowd line. What a great show !

One of the best shots in the DB Cooper movie is the Stearman on top of the car with the gear leg and wheel down thru the roof of the car !

Jerry O'Neill · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:35 pm

In "D.B. Cooper", I can't believe the prop never hit the car when the wheel was stuffed into the right front seat! It's really some hairy flying!
Jerry

stumac · **Joined:** Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:19 pm **Posts:** 185

You know there is an old folk tale around here (AND I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED) that Art spun his pitts into a cloud bank then beat it to Mexico. They never found a single piece of the airplane and Art was supposodly in a little debt trouble.
Never the less Art was one truley amazing pilot.

jaybird · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:08 pm

He was in an S2A. The accident report is NTSB Identification: LAX85LA393.

The theory is either a control component broke, or some other component, battery or camera equipment, came loose and caused an aft cg. This plane will recover easily from inverted spins, but flatten them out with an aft cg and recovery will depend on whether you can rock it back and forth on the lateral axis with bursts of power and elevator- factor in altitude and whether cg shifted from takeoff and recoverability may not be possible.

Something could have jambed the controls too. Preflights with a mirror on a stick in the cockpit is always a good idea to check what might have fell out of somebody's pockets while inverted and ended up on the floor on a previous flight.

Lots of possibilities.

While doing an inverted spin, I've consciously thought "could I bail during this if I had to?" I believe I could get out, but sure don't want to find out.

leo · **Posted:** Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:29 pm

Art's last airshow was the 1985 Reno Air Races, he died the following week. I was lucky enough to video his routine several times during the week, including his Clem Boozenstien drunk farmer routine.
His shows were set to music, his Super Chipmunk flyng extremely graceful. His final pass with one foot on the wing whie he sat on the cockpit rail was unique, and I saw him do it in some pretty windy conditions. He was one I always stopped to watch.
They used to hype that Aileron the dog flew with him. What he used to do is land, stop by his ribbon pole crew, and the wife would hand the dog up while he covered it all with smoke. He would then taxi in with the dog on his shoulder.

tgarrison · **Joined:** Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:31 pm **Posts:** 12

Quote:

They used to hype that Aileron the dog flew with him. What he used to do is land, stop by his ribbon pole crew, and the wife would hand the dog up while he covered it all with smoke. He would then taxi in with the dog on his shoulder.

Aileron did fly with him. The dog was with him when he crashed.

Thomas

Dan Jones · **Posted:** Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:23 pm

Does anybody know the N number or whatever became of Scholl's all red, 450hp Stearman? I posted that question a while ago on the Stearman Restorers website but drew a blank. He used a pretty tough looking old duster for the DB Cooper movie, but what a great piece of footage.

Dan

Eric Friedebach · **Posted:** Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:54 pm

tgarrison wrote:

The dog was with him when he crashed.

No, Aileron enjoyed a long retirement in doggie-years before passing on from natural causes.

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