Twelve O'Clock High Crash

[Chuck Lutz]

Here is a pic of the B-17 that was crash landed on purpose by Paul Mantz at Ozark AAF for one of the opening scenes in the movie "Twelve O'clock High". Mantz is thought to be the only person to ever singlehandely take off in a B-17, fly it and if you count the crash as technically still a landing, land it solo. (my buddy Ray who flew F-105 Thuds in VN says..."any landing you can walk away from is a good one...")

Mantz was paid the princely sum of $4,500.00 by the studio for this stunt which could have ended up much more spectacular if he ground-looped or nosed in and stuffed the plane into the runway.

Depending on what way you measure the value of a buck in 1949....he got something in the order of $45,000 to $86,000 plus/minus for this stunt.

I'd say he earned it.....watch for this sequence the next time you see the movie....

Twelve_O'Clock_High_crash_landing.jpg (20.98 KiB) Viewed 1498 times

[vtdeucedriver]

What was not mentioned. Sadly Paul Mantz lost his life in another stunt while filming the movie "Flight of the Phoenix" with Jimmy Stewart.

[F. R. Fox]

Well I hope the B17 was repaired and restored. Hopefully not to be crash landed again

[acespast]

My favourite film.In England part of this film is used in Management training to show how stress affects people.Amazing after all these years.Anyone else any stories about this film please.

[vista52]

One of my favorite films.

viewtopic.php?f=83&t=159834

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mantz

Acespast.....what are some of the things you like about this film?

[acespast]

Firstly the story line.I believe it was based on the bloody 100th at Thorps abbott,in Norfolk,England.The tense pressure of the crews.The genuine equipment used and it was made in black and white.Also i believe when it was released many of the original crews,ground staff etc visits there old airfields after watching the film.Even James Stewart visited his own airfield,the name escapes me now,but i think he was filming in the area at the time.The thing i notice at the begining of the film is when he bicycles to the airfield the fence you see is american,in england we do not have fences like that and at the back an american car passes by.

[clintm20]

Mantz was paid the princely sum of $4,500.00 by the studio for this stunt which could have ended up much more spectacular if he ground-looped

I'm probably getting overly picky here but in order to ground loop an aircraft on landing the gear must be extended and it must be a taildragger. So a ground loop in a gear up landing is basically impossible since the gear is not extended for the tail to pivot or 'loop' on.

Definately overly picky.

[Ben Dover]

Paul used the brakes to steer the wheels up crash landing which is possible on the B-17 as the main gear is about 30% exposed when retracted. Paul was a clever and talented stunt pilot and held the record for performing 30 outside loops. He was born in 1903.

[Mighty Eighth]

I've been a fan of 12 O'clock High (movie and TV series) since an embryo. I still have the original TV guide with Robert Lansing on the cover (1965) He actually portrayed a better General than Peck did in the original film, IMO. Interesting story of the "Toby" that sat on the mantle of the officers club in the original film. Repops of the "Robin Hood" toby character are available on ePay on occasion. I picked up two; one for my brother and one for my own mantle. I keep my crusher cap on it along with a set of headphones. Kind of spooky at night to come in and see it. The original was given to the commander of the "Bloody 100th," who BG Savage was supposedly based on. The toby was later stolen out of his home. It has never resurfaced to my knowledge.

gary