PAUL MANTZ and his B-17s

[DIK SHEPHERD]

Does anyone know (Scott) if there was ever a list of all the B-17s that Mantz bought after the war, and what happened to them all?

[aerovin2]

A have a listing out of a civil registration file that has all or most of the serials of the 475 or so surplus airplanes Mantz purchased, including the 78 B-17s (if my memory serves me correctly). Several were eventually sent on to Oklahoma City for use at gas stations and at least one was given, at least on paper, to a Hollywood director as a wedding present (don't think he really wanted it and it was probably scrapped). Anyway, the rest were disassembled by Mantz's partners and hauled off to St. Louis to be smelted. If there is a big interest, I could post a listing of the B-17 serials, maybe not quickly but eventually. Or, maybe I can do better and post a .pdf file of the original document. Is anyone interested?

[DryMartini]

I'm interested.

Good piece of history there.

[aerovin2]

I'll explore scanning to a .pdf file and putting it as a link to my Tallmantz pages. That way everybody with an interest could see the primary document and maybe engender some good research.

[aerovin2]

Okay, for all those who wanted to see it, there is a large .pdf file available on the Tallmantz home page that has the six pages of sales documents and serial numbers of the Mantz sale.

[Chris Brame]

Thanks for posting the list - lots of goodies in there; even a B-18 (RB-18B 37-610)! Anyone spotted any combat veterans yet among the B-17s or B-24s?

[aerovin2]

i didn't check specifically, but there should be many combat vet B-17s in that list, including Hell's Angels.