The Tallmantz Vampire (N6878D)

aerovin · **Posted:** Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:00 pm

Just added a page to my Tallmantz sub-site about N6878D, the DH.100 Vampire that Tallmantz owned from 1963 to 1966. I tried to validate the history of this aircraft and two other Vampires also parked at Orange County Airport in the same period, N6883D and N6885D, neither of which had any connection to Mantz or Tallmantz.

Found here: https://www.aerovintage.com/vampire/

Lon Moer · **Posted:** Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:28 pm

Curious.

N6883D #1 and N6885D #2 were a matching pair

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and they have been 'known' as being Paul Mantz's.

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Craig59 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:52 am

Outstanding research as always, Scott. A DVD of the episode is available here for $14.99. Happy viewing!

https://www.lovingtheclassics.com/by-ti ... dvd-r.html

Lon Moer · **Posted:** Tue Aug 22, 2023 9:18 pm

This is from an old Warbirds International article called "Before Warbirds"........

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aerovin · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2023 12:45 am

That this airplane was used by Johnny Rocket is often stated but not supported by anything verifiable that I could find. I think it is an oft repeated account that has bee assumed to be true. From what I wrote in the originally linked post:

The Vampire was sold to International Management Consultants of Corton-on-Hudson, New York, on July 24, 1958. No information has come to light about what it was used for or where it was based. As indicated below, some sources presume that N6878D was owned or operated by airshow performer Johnny Skyrocket, but there is nothing in the FAA registration file that indicates any association with any company or individual that John Morgan (a.k.a Johnny Skyrocket) of New Martinsville, West Virginia, was associated with at any time in the Vampires civil utilization. This Vampire has been confused, apparently, with N6876D as it had a similar (but not identical) paint scheme.

Stephan Wilkinson · **Joined:** Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:23 am **Posts:** 699

Croton-on-Hudson, not Corton. I live in that area.

aerovin · **Posted:** Thu Aug 24, 2023 4:09 pm

Okay, thanks…I’ll correct.

lucky52 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 24, 2023 4:34 pm

Does that B-25 that Paul Mantz used for pictures still exist?

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11319

Lon Moer wrote:

Curious.

N6883D #1 and N6885D #2 were a matching pair

Attachment:

rsz_civilvamp2.jpg

Attachment:

civilVamp1.jpg

and they have been 'known' as being Paul Mantz's.

Attachment:

ClassicPlaneVamp.jpg

Planes of Fame retains N6881D/RCAF 17018, donated decades ago by Ron (Roland) Holmes in flying condition. At least it flew into Chino I believe. It has suffered from decades of outdoor exposure, now in storage in Valle, AZ.

T J Johansen · **Posted:** Fri Aug 25, 2023 11:19 am

Scott, just had a look at the Tallmantz Vampire page. Just wondering about the red & white P-51 on the "derelicts row" at Orange Co. Was it N5451V?

airnutz · **Posted:** Fri Aug 25, 2023 4:29 pm

lucky52 wrote:

Does that B-25 that Paul Mantz used for pictures still exist?

It's doubtful, lucky52. She was reported as crashed in Colombia in 1976. Apparently her last flights were spent "rollin' dirty" in drug country.
http://www.aerovintage.com/tallmantz-av ... antz-n1203

lucky52 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 25, 2023 5:55 pm

Thanks airnutz.

JohnB · **Posted:** Sat Aug 26, 2023 10:58 am

John Morgan, referenced in The Warbirds International piece about the key had an interesting proposal on what to do with surplus Vampires (and perhaps its various cousins with a similar configuration).

He designed a new forward fuselage seating 4-6 to turn the aircraft into a single engine bizjet.

I recall seeing drawings back in the day, it vaguely looked like a scaled down front half of a Jet Commander ahead of the wing.
Although they said the airframe would be a Vampure, I have a hard time believing the Vampires Goblin (3500 lbs of thrust) jet could take the weight, then too, I would suspect CG issues.
So perhaps the plan was to fit updated engines or use a Venom airframe.

At any rate, perhaps a few airframes found new homes in anticipation of future conversion.

Hooligan2 · **Posted:** Sat Aug 26, 2023 12:17 pm

JohnB wrote:

John Morgan, referenced in The Warbirds International piece about the key had an interesting proposal on what to do with surplus Vampires (and perhaps its various cousins with a similar configuration).

He designed a new forward fuselage seating 4-6 to turn the aircraft into a single engine bizjet.

I recall seeing drawings back in the day, it vaguely looked like a scaled down front half of a Jet Commander ahead of the wing.
Although they said the airframe would be a Vampure, I have a hard time believing the Vampires Goblin (3500 lbs of thrust) jet could take the weight, then too, I would suspect CG issues.
So perhaps the plan was to fit updated engines or use a Venom airframe.

At any rate, perhaps a few airframes found new homes in anticipation of future conversion.

Herewith an article about it, I recall the project's resurrection getting a mention in Pilot in the UK circa 1986 - there was an article about Vampires (Ed Stead?) which I think included a sidebar about Morgan; possibly Stephan Wilkinson wrote the main article... https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/vam ... -las-vegas

Paul Stroud · **Posted:** Sat Aug 26, 2023 12:22 pm

Article about this on the VWOC website

https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/vam ... -las-vegas

Oops, Hooligan beat me to it!

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