Warbird Information Exchange

This was taken around 1966-67 possibly at Movieland of the Air.
Any ideas?

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Don't touch my junk!!

I'd love to know what airplane this was. I have other views of it and it had no markings. I remember seeing it up close in 1967...never have found out which Tallmantz B-25 it was.

And a stupid question from my side, helping to solve the puzzle...: where was Movieland of the Air?
Keep smilin'!
Coert

It was at the Santa Ana (now John Wayne) Airport, Orange County, California.

Coert,
Here's an explanation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website:

"Tallmantz Aviation, Inc., was formed in 1961 by pilots Frank G. Tallman (1919-1978) and Paul Mantz (1903-1965). The firm's services included airplane operations, an FAA-approved repair facility, jet fueling, aircraft storage, and flight testing. Aviation services provided to the motion picture industry included modern and antique aircraft, aerial photography, aerial stunts and crashes, location spotting, mockups, props, research, and charters. Tallmantz specialized in aerial photography using modified B-25s that featured flying platforms. Their roster of planes also consisted of B-26s, P-51s, F9Fs, and Corsairs. Pilots and technical advisers included company president Tallman, Mantz, and Frank Pine, who was later vice president and director of operations. Tallman and Mantz both lost their lives in airplane crashes, Mantz during the filming of Flight of the Phoenix (20th Century-Fox, 1965). Mantz had previously provided motion picture flying services through Paul Mantz Air Services out of the Lockheed Air Terminal at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport in California. The company had moved to Orange County (now John Wayne) Airport in Santa Ana, California, in 1956. Paul Mantz Air Services was then superseded by Tallmantz Aviation, which was based at the Orange County Airport. An aviation museum operated by Mantz and Tallman called Movieland of the Air Museum was located adjacent to the Tallmantz hangar. The museum exhibited historical aircraft, replicas, and artifacts, all of which were available as rentals to motion picture studios and advertising agencies. Tallmantz Aviation and the museum ceased operations around 1991."

Regards, Dennis

The TallMantz flightline...4 Mar 1971...

There's a black B-25 way down there...

...looks like N9456Z...

The black B-25 was not necessarily the same airplane. The black B-25 appeared in an episode of Cannon shot at the El Mirage airport in the high desert north of Ontario, CA, and was one of the Catch-22 airplanes. It wore different paint between 1968 and 1971. The first photo posted was of an glossy dark olive unmarked B-25 on the Tallmantz line in 1967...pre-Catch-22 It could have been, though, as N9456Z was a pre-Catch-22 B-25 owned by Tallmantz (bought by Mantz in 1960). Great photos, by the way. Brings back memories.

Is the L-1 the Weeks airplane and if so did he wind up with floats?

Well, it is regisetered to him at the moment. Pretty rare bird!

Thanks for the update, Dennis!
C

Has anybody figure out what b-25 this actually is??

_________________
Don't touch my junk!!

Is that white and blue Piper Aztec on the flightline the one that Frank Tallman slammed into the side of a mountain while flying at night?

Their story (stories) would make one helluva a good book. The only thing I've found was the Don Dwiggins book from when I was a kid.
No wait – forget I said that. I'll pitch the idea to my publisher tomorrow . . .

Frank traded a F4U for the J2F for Murphy's War, he got it from Junior Berchinal. That's an Apache.

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N9456Z is "Briefing Time". Owned by the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum