On 08 Mar 2004 07:37:42 GMT, (Regnirps) wrote:


The flying in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" is pretty cool. Who flew that twin
through the billboard? Spectacular!

-- Charlie Springer

That was Frank Tallman. The margins for that stunt were paralyzingly
small. He had only about two feet on either side of his wingtips for
clearance. The frame was structural steel so any slight offset would
have been catastrophic.

The billboard itself was made from sheets of balsa, if I remember
correctly and in the event, the impact caved in the windshield and
shut down one of the engines.

Tallman had a blizzard of plexiglass shards blowing around in his
cockpit and he had to shut down the engine and limp back to the
airport. All in a day's work.

Corky Scott

PS, both Tallman and his equally famous partner Paul Mantz died in
stunt related airplane crashes. Mantz was the pilot who landed the
B-17 with gear up for the opening sequences of "12 O'Clock High". He
died in the crash of the cobbled together "Flight of the Phoenix"
airplane which did not climb as well as anticipated to clear a sand
dune after the director requested one more pass. At least I think the
director had requested one more pass. Perhaps not, perhaps it was
just that one more pass had been scheduled. Not sure.