Mantz FG-1D Corsair BuNo 88086 (N63382)

FG-1D BuNo 88086 was one of four Goodyear-built Corsairs associated with Tallmantz Aviation. Paul Mantz purchased the ex-air racer in 1957, and it remained in the collection until it was sold to Rosen-Novak in February 1966. It went on to several civil owners and, at last report, it was in disassembled storage with the Kermit Weeks collection in Florida.

USN Service

FG-1D BuNo 88086 was delivered to the USN from the Goodyear aircraft factory on March 15, 1945. It had little service with the USN, going to NAS San Diego and then MCAS El Toro, both in California, before going into storage at NAS Clinton, Oklahoma, in April 1946. It was deemed excess to USN needs and stricken from the inventory on April 30, 1946. It was thus turned over to the War Assets Administration for disposal, as were the 8,800 aircraft held in storage at Clinton.

Civil Sale of BuNo 88086

It was sold just two months later, on June 14, 1946, to Alistar Garland of Los Angeles, California, for the princely sum of $2,250. Garland held on to it for just a few weeks, for it was then sold to Dave Weyler, also of Los Angeles, on July 1, 1946. Weyler had the intention of entering his Corsair in the 1946 Bendix cross-country air race to be held the following month. He applied to the CAA for a civil registration and was issued NX63382. Weyler recruited an ex-Army Air Forces pilot, Thomas F. Cali, to fly the Corsair in the race.  The airplane was repainted in an overall white scheme with blue trim, the name “Joe” and the race number of “90” applied as markings. 

1946 and 1947 Bendix Trophy Races

The FG-1D could carry 363 gallons of fuel in its standard internal tanks. There was a provision for a 172-gallon external centerline drop tank bringing total fuel capacity to 535 gallons. Regardless of how fuel was managed and power settings, this amount was not sufficient for the cross-country race from Van Nuys to Cleveland, a distance of about 2,048 miles. At some point, most likely prior to the 1946 race, an additional internal fuel tank was added behind the cockpit. There is no documentation on this fuel tank…it’s capacity or how it was plumbed into the fuel system. Nor are any external fueling ports evident from photos of the aircraft. It is likely it was just fueled through the aft part of the cockpit. This tank was still in place through to the aircraft’s current owner. Even with an added tank as large as 150 gallons, though, it is doubtful that enough fuel could be carried for a nonstop flight at high power settings.

The field of eighteen aircraft departed Van Nuys in three-minute intervals early on the morning of August 30. It has not be definitively recorded, but most likely Cali made an intermediate fuel stop, possibly at Garden City, Kansas. Nonetheless, despite Cali’s best effort at fuel conversation, he still came up short approaching Cleveland and ended up landing at Toledo, Ohio, to refuel again. The added fuel stop put him near the end of the pack, with Paul Mantz winning the race with one of his P-51C Mustangs.

Weyler tried it again for the 1947 Bendix Race. For 1947, his pilot was Frank Whitton, an USMC reserve pilot, and the race number was changed to “99.” This time the field was only twelve aircraft, including a number of Mustangs and P-38s. Once again, they departed Van Nuys on the early morning of August 30, 1947. Racer 99 flew the course with, again, a probably intermediate fuel stop but without the unplanned second fuel stop, actually managed a slower time than Cali had flown in 1946. Nonetheless, Whitton and NX63382 finished sixth in the race, with Paul Mantz once again winning with one his red Mustangs.

That second Bendix race ended the racing career of NX63382. Weyler held on to the airplane for another six years, though what, if anything, it was used for has not been determined. It may have just been parked at some Southern California airfield.

Weyler Sells NX63382 in September 1953

Weyler sold NX63382 on September 24, 1953, to J.C. Shell of Los Angeles. Again, there is no available record of what Shell did with the Corsair for the following six months, but he ended up selling it to Chance Vought Aircraft, Inc. of Dallas, Texas, on March 17, 1954.

A Goodyear Corsair for Chance Vought

Available information suggests that Vought purchased NX63382 for corporate transport use, though it sure would be nice to locate a bit more definitive information. Possibly not coincidently, Vought was spun off of United Aircraft in 1954, becoming Chance Vought Aircraft, Inc., and that was the corporate name on the purchase paperwork. The initial airworthiness application in March 1954 shows that the aircraft retained the experimental certificate for the purpose of research and development, and this was repeated a year later. By early 1957, shortly before it was sold to Mantz,  it retained the experimental certificate but was now flown for exhibition purposes. The airframe records records that it had but 78 flight hours on the airframe in December 1954, but just a year later it had 223 flight hours, so Vought was flying the airplane.

Photographic evidence suggest it wore two paint schemes while flying for Vought. The first, as seen below, was two-toned, but neither color has actually been identified with a color photo. The fuselage had a Vought emblem and the titles “Chance Vought Aircraft” 

The second paint scheme worn by the Vought-operated FG-1D evidently carried forth past its sale to Paul Mantz in January 1957. As can be seen below, it was overall orange with white or cream colored trim on the fuselage and possibly under the wings. As can be seen below, the “Chance Vought Aircraft” titles were apparently added to the fuselage for this scheme also, but were painted over prior to the aircraft going to Mantz.

NX63382 Sold To Paul Mantz in January 1957

On January 25, 1957, Vought sold the FG-1D to Paul Mantz Air Service. By that date, Mantz was based at Orange County Airport so the airplane ended up being based there. Why Mantz bought the airplane has been lost to history, but there are no identified projects that used the Corsair, nor any views of it going anywhere except the Mantz ramp at Orange County. 

N63382 to Tallmantz Aviation in November 1961

As part of the formation of Tallmantz Aviation in November 1961, Mantz transferred the Corsair. However, the bill of sale making the transfer showed it going to “Tallman Aviation,” an apparent typo as the FAA registration was issued to “Tallmantz Aviation.” The disuse of N63382 appears to have continued with Tallmantz which, in the early 1960s, had a total of four FG-1Ds on the ramp…N63382, N3440G, N9153Z, and N9154Z. None of them flew much, if at all. N63382 was, however, repainted in an overall dark blue paint scheme that approximated a Navy paint job, but just the civil registration was applied to the fuselage. No other markings were on the aircraft.

N63382 to Rosen Novak in February 1966

As noted elsewhere on this website, the July 1965-February 1966 period was a tumultuous period for Tallmantz Aviation, beginning with the death of Paul Mantz during the filming of Flight of the Phoenix. Settlement of the Mantz estate and other factors necessitated Tallman to sell a large portion of the aircraft collection to the Rosen Novak Auto Co. of Omaha, Nebraska, on February 18, 1966. Two of the FG-1Ds, N63382 and N9154Z went to Rosen Novak with the other aircraft. Rosen-Novak purchased the collection as an investment, hoping to sell it off to another museum, but takers were few, so by 1967 Rosen Novak was breaking up the collection and offering sales of individual aircraft.

Jack Spanich Purchases N63382 in January 1968

On January 2, 1968, Rosen-Novak sold FG-1D N63382 to the Spanich Bonding Company of Livonia, Michigan. The company was owned by Jack Spanich, who was based at least partly at Long Beach, California. Photographic evidence shows that Spanich had stripped the paint and markings from the FG-1D by February 1969.

There is no available record of what use Spanich put the Corsair to. It seems his attention was subsequently diverted to a number of Douglas AD Skyraiders he purchased from France. He was a director at the Yankee Air Force at Ypsilanti, Michigan, and had other warbird involvement, but he and his wife were tragically killed in a November 4, 1984, Skyraider accident.

N63382 to Kermit Weeks

By 1983, it appears that the FG-1D had been disassembled, toward what end is unknown. In any event, it was sold by Spanich on May 10, 1983, to Kermit Weeks of Miami, Florida. The FG-1D was moved to Florida still in disassembled storage. It remained on the civil registry but at some point the ownership of the aircraft was transferred to Weeks’ “World Greatest Aircraft Collection, Inc.” of Polk City, Florida. 

Eventually a rebuild was started on the Corsair but corrosion was found on a portion of the upper spar cap and the fuel tank bay in the center section. Arrangements were made to ship the center section with the wing stubs and cockpit section, as well as some other components, to the Precision Aerospace Productions facility at Wangaratta in Australia. There, as part of an agreement, the spar was used as a pattern part for the construction of a new spar for another Corsair project. In the 2017-18 time period, the upper and lower spar caps for N63382 were replaced, and the main fuselage tank bay rebuilt. The major work on the structure was completed in late 2018.

The current status of this FG-1D? It’s believed to still be under a very gradual restoration. As far as is known, the center section (completed in 2018) is still at Wangaratta, Australia, yet to be shipped back to Florida. The remaining parts of the disassembled Corsair are awaiting further attention. Kermit is known for moving in strange and mysterious ways and the path this Corsair is taking is no exception.

My inquiries to the Kermit Weeks’ operation made in January 2024 about the status of this FG-1D project have yet to bear fruit. The best guess is that this airplane will, at some future, undetermined date, be completed and may once again take to the skies.

If anyone from Kermit’s operation has some current information or photos of this Corsair, I’d love to use them to update this page. Please email me.