B-25 Mitchells and 1980's Detective TV Shows

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asicer

Final Approach
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asicer
So today was a lazy DST-switch Sunday and I happened to be channel surfing when I stumbled upon this:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/45556
(unless you have a taste for 1980's TV, you may want to skip to the last 15minutes or so)

Which raised a few questions:
1. Based on a guess to its proximity to Hollywood, did the B-25 come from the Planes of Fame collection in Chino? Has Planes of Fame been around that long?
2. I'm a little surprised that the B-25 didn't have to worry about downwash from the helo when it was off the wing, or that the helo didn't seem too concerned with wake turbulence when it was on the tail. Daring stunt pilots or just another formation flight?
3. Apparently the show is set in San Diego. Was that really the Coronado Bridge they flew over? Or was it a stand-in?
4. During the "emergency landing" scene, they touched down on 31 but crossed 27 on the rollout. KSAN currently has a single runway 27. Did Lindbergh Field have a runway 31 at some point in time? I'm guessing they used a stand-in, so which airport was it?
 
You can see runway 13/31 at KSAN in this 1978 photo. It was available until sometime in the '80s or '90s

Flying-1970s-1065.jpg
 
So, I watched Simon & Simon when it was 1st run TV. Does that date me or what?
 
asicer said:
So today was a lazy DST-switch Sunday and I happened to be channel surfing when I stumbled upon this:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/45556
(unless you have a taste for 1980's TV, you may want to skip to the last 15minutes or so)

Which raised a few questions:
1. Based on a guess to its proximity to Hollywood, did the B-25 come from the Planes of Fame collection in Chino? Has Planes of Fame been around that long?
2. I'm a little surprised that the B-25 didn't have to worry about downwash from the helo when it was off the wing, or that the helo didn't seem too concerned with wake turbulence when it was on the tail. Daring stunt pilots or just another formation flight?
3. Apparently the show is set in San Diego. Was that really the Coronado Bridge they flew over? Or was it a stand-in?
4. During the "emergency landing" scene, they touched down on 31 but crossed 27 on the rollout. KSAN currently has a single runway 27. Did Lindbergh Field have a runway 31 at some point in time? I'm guessing they used a stand-in, so which airport was it?
Click to expand...

I remember coming in over the Coronado Bridge and landing on Runway 31 at SAN circa 1977.

Dave
 
asicer said:
1. Based on a guess to its proximity to Hollywood, did the B-25 come from the Planes of Fame collection in Chino? Has Planes of Fame been around that long?
Click to expand...
It might have. Planes of Fame has had a presence at CNO since about 1970; it was at Ontario from 1962 to 1970. But there were also other collections in SoCal that provided aircraft to movies and TV. Tallmantz Aviation at SNA amassed the 18 B-25s that were used in the 1970 film Catch 22.
 
Huh??? Everyone here knows one thing for certain. Not sure of the exact years but it spanned several decades.

Columbo.

Nothing comes close. Period end.
 
Pilawt said:
It might have. Planes of Fame has had a presence at CNO since about 1970; it was at Ontario from 1962 to 1970. But there were also other collections in SoCal that provided aircraft to movies and TV. Tallmantz Aviation at SNA amassed the 18 B-25s that were used in the 1970 film Catch 22.
Click to expand...
I can't view the video (says you have to sign up for a Hulu account), so I can't identify the specific B-25, but my guess is it was a Tallmantz airplane vice a museum ship. And chances are it was filmed from another Tallmamtz B-25.

The B-25 I'm sitting in for my avatar photo was a Tallmantz photo ship back then.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I can't view the video (says you have to sign up for a Hulu account), so I can't identify the specific B-25, but my guess is it was a Tallmantz airplane vice a museum ship. And chances are it was filmed from another Tallmamtz B-25.

The B-25 I'm sitting in for my avatar photo was a Tallmantz photo ship back then.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but Hulu seems to be the only way to view it online. However, under the big green "Start my free trial" button there's a small little "click here" link to see a preview that has a few seconds of the B-25 in-flight.
 
I watched the preview. That definitely is the Coronado Bridge. The B-25, though, didn't have much in the way of distinctive markings. It may well have had markings watercolored over for this production.

B-25.jpg

That kinda looks like 16L at Van Nuys.
 
Last edited:
Paul Mantz, one of the owners of Tallmantz Aviation bought his first B-25s in February 1946.
One of the first uses of one of his modified B-25s was used in filming from the nose showing 3 soldiers coming home in a B-17 and used in the 1946 movie The Best Years of Our Lives, released in late '46.
Those modified B-25s were used in many post war movies including Fighter Squadron, Flying Leathernecks and Above and Beyond.
So yes, Tallmantz aviation and filming from B-25's have been around for many decades.
 
Yes, they were shot from Paul's specially modified nose of the B-25.
All this is from my book B-25 Mitchell in Civil Service by Scott Thompson.
 
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