Frank Tallman
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Frank Gifford Tallman III (April 17, 1919 in
East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...
– April 15, 1978 in
Santiago Peak Santiago Peak is the southern mountain of the Saddleback landform in Orange County, California. It is the highest and most prominent peak of both the Santa Ana Mountains and Orange County; it also marks a border point with Riverside County. Th ...
, Trabuco Canyon, California) was a stunt pilot who worked in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
during the 1960s and 1970s. He was the son of Frank Gifford Tallman, Jr. (1894 – 1952) and Inez Evelyn Foster (1894 – 1982).


Early life

Growing up, he had a twin sister named Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was about 7, she died of a combination of pneumonia and measles. That same year Frank's sister Prudence was born. He also had one brother, Foster. Frank Tallman's father had been a military pilot during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Tallman took his first plane ride in his father's lap at the age of five. As a teenager he took flying lessons and became a pilot. When
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
started, Tallman tried to enter the military as a pilot, but his application was declined due to his lack of the required two years of college. He worked for a time as a civilian pilot instructor and later in the war was able to join the U.S. Navy when they relaxed their education requirements. Tallman remained stateside until the end of the war.


Postwar

Tallman remained in the
United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...
after the war and started a business in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. He had the opportunity to acquire a collection of pre-1920 aircraft and supplemented the collection with surplus World War II aircraft and more pre-war aircraft as he was able. In the late 1950s he moved his business and aircraft to southern
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and began to do work for the entertainment business. He also performed in
air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...
s around the country.


Tallmantz Aviation

In 1961, Tallman formed Tallmantz Aviation with stunt pilot Paul Mantz. Based at Orange County Airport (now
John Wayne Airport John Wayne Airport is a commercial and general aviation airport that serves Orange County, California, and the Greater Los Angeles area. The airport is located in an unincorporated area of Orange County, and it is owned and operated by the cou ...
) in southern California, they provided pilots, camera planes, and a small fleet of antique and historic aircraft, along with background models of aircraft and ships, for movie and television productions. Mantz was killed in 1965 while flying a cobbled-together aircraft, the
Tallmantz Phoenix P-1 The Tallmantz Phoenix P-1 was an Federal Aviation Administration, FAA-certified one-off aircraft built for the 1965 film production ''The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film), The Flight of the Phoenix'' and used in the picture's initial aerial seq ...
, designed with the assistance of
Otto Timm Otto William Timm (October 28, 1893 – June 29, 1978) was a California-based barnstormer and aircraft manufacturer of German descent. Charles Lindbergh's first flight was flown by Timm. Timm partnered at times with his brother Wally Timm who di ...
, representing the fictional type built by oil explorers of pieces of their crashed
Fairchild C-82 Packet The C-82 Packet is a twin-engine, twin-boom cargo aircraft designed and built by Fairchild Aircraft. It was used briefly by the United States Army Air Forces and the successor United States Air Force following World War II. Design and develop ...
downed in the North African desert in '' The Flight of the Phoenix'' (1965). Tallman injured his leg in a go-cart accident with his small son in the driveway of their home, which meant Mantz had to fly the Phoenix. Tallman was hospitalized. Infection set in and most of the leg was amputated. Tallman taught himself to fly with one leg, reportedly preferring to fly some planes without the prosthetic leg he used for walking. As an amputee, he eventually regained his airman
medical certificate A medical certificate or doctor's certificate is a written statement from a physician or another medically qualified health care provider which attests to the result of a medical examination of a patient. It can serve as a sick note ( UK: fit no ...
and ratings in propeller multi- and single-engine, jet, and rotary aircraft.


Film credits

Tallman performed the stunt flying in the 1963 chase movie ''
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer with a story and screenplay by William Rose and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all-star cast of comedians, is a ...
'', including the flight in a Beechcraft Model 18 through a
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
billboard. He also contributed to '' The Carpetbaggers'' (1964), '' The Wrecking Crew'' (1969), and ''
The Thousand Plane Raid ''The Thousand Plane Raid'' (also known as ''The One Thousand Plane Raid'') is a 1969 DeLuxe Color film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Christopher George and Laraine Stephens. Although claimed to be derived from Ralph Barker's ''The Thousan ...
'' (also 1969). He served as the flying supervisor for ''
Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-chr ...
'' in 1970 and was personally involved in locating and acquiring the 18 or so flyable film unit B-25s appearing in the film. Tallman flew the dramatic night shots of the
Milo Minderbinder First Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder is a fictional character in Joseph Heller's 1961 novel, ''Catch-22''. As the mess officer of Yossarian's squadron, Minderbinder is an entrepreneur during World War II, "perhaps the best known of all fictional bus ...
Air Force
B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in e ...
bombing its own base just over the heads of actors Jon Voight and Martin Sheen. In 1971, Tallman flew a Grumman J2F-6 Duck
amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
he restored in '' Murphy's War''. Also in 1971 Tallmantz Aviation provided the aerial camera footage for an episode of Columbo entitled "Ransom For A Dead Man". In 1973 he flew in '' Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies'' and piloted a Stearman cropduster in '' Charley Varrick'' along with the television pilot films ''Death Race'' and ''
San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle E ...
''. He was aerial supervisor for ''
The Great Waldo Pepper ''The Great Waldo Pepper'' is a 1975 American drama film directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. Set during 1926–1931, the film stars Robert Redford as a disaffected World War I veteran pilot who missed the opportunity to fly ...
'' in which he performed barnstorming stunts. When the controls failed in his World War I aircraft replica, the plane went out of control and struck power lines. Tallman suffered a head injury. He also flew in '' Lucky Lady'' in 1975. Tallman served as aerial coordinator and pilot for the television series ''
Baa Baa Black Sheep "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" is an English nursery rhyme, the earliest printed version of which dates from around 1744. The words have not changed very much in two and a half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody '' Ah! vous di ...
'' (1976–1979). He also flew in the six-episode TV series ''
Spencer's Pilots ''Spencer's Pilots'' is an American adventure series that aired on CBS from September 17 to November 19, 1976. Created by Larry Rosen and developed by Alvin Sapinsley, the series stars Gene Evans.''The Tuscaloosa News'' (via Associated Press ...
,'' starring Gene Evans, and the television film, ''Amelia Earhart'', both in 1976. In 1973, Tallman recounted his experiences rebuilding and flying vintage aircraft in the book ''Flying the Old Planes''. His last film projects were '' The Cat from Outer Space'', '' Capricorn One'', and ''
1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
'', all in 1978.


Death

On Saturday 15 April 1978, Tallman was making a routine ferry flight in a twin-engine Piper Aztec from Santa Monica Airport, California, to
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
under
visual flight rules In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better ...
when he continued the flight into deteriorating weather, a lowering ceiling and rain. He struck the side of
Santiago Peak Santiago Peak is the southern mountain of the Saddleback landform in Orange County, California. It is the highest and most prominent peak of both the Santa Ana Mountains and Orange County; it also marks a border point with Riverside County. Th ...
in the
Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside co ...
near
Trabuco Canyon Trabuco Canyon (''Trabuco'', Spanish for "Blunderbuss") is a small unincorporated community located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California, and lies partly within the Cleveland National Forest. Trabuco ...
at cruising altitude, and died in the ensuing crash. Following Tallman's death, his historic collection of movie warplanes and camera planes was sold. Many were purchased by entrepreneur
Kermit Weeks Kermit Weeks (born July 14, 1953 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American aviation enthusiast, pilot, and aircraft collector. He has competed in aerobatics, designed aircraft, and promoted aviation and vintage aircraft restoration. Oil and ...
and went on display at his
Fantasy of Flight Fantasy of Flight is an aviation museum in Polk City, Florida. It opened in November 1995, to house Kermit Weeks' collection of aircraft that, until Hurricane Andrew damaged many in 1992, were housed at the Weeks Air Museum in Tamiami, Florida ...
museum in Polk City, Florida. A Silver Line ship's model was donated to the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. He was survived by his second wife, "Boots," and children Gail and Frank.


See also

*
B-25 Mitchell aircraft in Catch-22 When the 1970 film adaption of ''Catch-22'' began preliminary production, Paramount made a decision to hire the Tallmantz Aviation organization to obtain sufficient North American B-25 Mitchell (B-25) bomber aircraft to recreate a Mediterranean ...


Notes and references


External links


Tallman Family papers
relating to the Tallman family including Frank Gifford Tallman, Sr. (1860-1938) and Annie Dickie Tallman, the grandparents of Frank Gifford Tallman III (1919-1978), at
Hagley Museum and Library The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Pont ...

Tallmantz Aviation records
documenting the activities of the company, primarily during the 1960s and 1970s, are held by the Margaret Herrick Library of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
in Beverly Hills, California. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tallman, Frank 1919 births 1978 deaths American aviators People from Orange, New Jersey Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States American amputees Accidental deaths in California American stunt performers Stunt pilots Burials at Pacific View Memorial Park Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1978