22. A Hollywood Stuntman’s Shrewd Investment
In Hollywood, Paul Mantz proved himself a natural showman. He managed to attract attention in a crowded field and made a name for himself after he successfully pulled off a dangerous aerial stunt for the 1932 movie Air Mail. From then on, and for decades afterward, Mantz cemented his place as one of Tinseltown’s premier movie stunt pilots. When America was thrust into WWII, he enlisted in the US Army Air Forces and was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit, the USAAF’s primary film production outfit at the time. Mantz was eventually commissioned a major and rose to lieutenant colonel before he was honorably discharged in August 1944.
After the war, he shelled out $55,000 to buy a fleet of 475 surplus bomber and fighter aircraft from the military, including P-51 Mustangs, to use in his aerial stunts. He joked at the time that he had the world’s sixth-biggest air force – and also demonstrated that he was a shrewd investor. Mantz sold the fuel already in the planes to recoup a good chunk of his investment, kept only twelve airplanes, and sold the rest for scrap. When all was said and done, he had recouped his $55,000, walked off with a handsome profit, and had a dozen essentially freebie airplanes to keep on top of the financial gain.