chose one of the P-51 fighters to convert it into a Bendix Trophy racer. With his longtime mechanic, Cort Johnson, he totally rebuilt the P-51C, stripping out all military issue equipment and modifying the wings with "wet" fuel cells. In the 1946 Bendix Trophy race, all the competitors flew similar converted warbirds but Mantz prevailed with an average speed of 435 mph. He went on to win the Bendix for an unprecedented three consecutive years (1946–1948) with over $125,000.00 in winnings. Postwar film career In 1945, Mantz flew a P-40 and directed aerial sequences in God is My Co-Pilot. He single-handedly piloted a Boeing B-17 for the "near-suicidal" belly landing scenes in Twelve O'Clock High and the footage was reused in several other movies. For that stunt he reportedly received one of the highest fees ever paid up to that time ($4,500 in 1949 dollars). His longest single flying assignment was in the late 1950s, for the TV series Sky King. Mantz piloted a converted B-25 bomber to film footage for Cinerama travelogues. According to an interview in the documentary Cinerama Adventure with Mantz's cameraman, in one instance, Mantz flew through an active volcano and narrowly escaped crashing into the mouth of the volcano when the engines died due to oxygen starvation. Mantz's B-25 was outfitted with a refrigerator and other amenities for comfort as he used it for world travel on film assignments. Mantz came up with the idea for filming the opening shot for the 1955 film Bad Day at Black Rock in which an aerial view of an approaching passenger train was filmed in reverse with the consist backing away from the camera helicopter as flying towards the train was too dangerous. The sequence was then reversed in the film. Mantz used his B-25 to film Cinerama sequences of military aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in October and November 1956, for the Lowell Thomas production, Search for Paradise, released in 1957. Also, in 1957 he was the behind the scene pilot for the film “The Spirit of St. Louis.” In 1961, aged 58, Mantz formed Tallmantz Aviation with pilot Frank Tallman, supplying aircraft along with their personal stunt flying services to movie and television productions. Together they were involved in several movies including the flying sequences performed in a Beech 18 in the 1963 comedy It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Family life In