Tallmantz FM-2 Wildcat (N4629V)

Wildcat **N4629V** as seen in the Movieland of the Air display area in 1963. The airplane had been purchased by Tallmantz Aviation a year earlier. The oil under the engine and the oil streaks on the cowling suggest it was flown at least once or twice, possibly by Frank Tallman for a display. (Photo by Harry Standel)

The Tallmantz FM-2 Wildcat, N4629V, was only owned by Tallmantz Aviation from February 1962 until February 1966…four short years. Moreover, in that period of four years, there is no indication that it was used in any film or other projects by Tallmantz and was rarely, if ever, flown by the company. However, this aircraft is of interest and the documented history is presented here.

Navy Service History of FM-2 BuNo 86564

FM-2 BuNo 86564 was built by the Eastern Aircraft Division of the General Motors Corp. under a license agreement with the Grumman Corp. General Motors had converted auto production facilities in New Jersey and Maryland that were dedicated to Wildcat production. BuNo 86564 was delivered at Trenton, New Jersey, on June 22, 1945, as part of the last production run of the Wildcat. (One wonders, why were they still building notably obsolete Wildcats in 1945?) This Wildcat was directly flown, not surprisingly, into storage at NAS Tillamook on the Oregon coastline.

There were two huge airship hangars built by the Navy on the field, each over 1000′ long, 300′ wide, and 15 stories high. The hangars were used for aircraft storage after the airship operations ended with the war.

As of January 1, 1946, there were 107 FM-2 Wildcats held in storage at Tillamook, one of which no doubt was BuNo 86564. A year later, a total of 433 aircraft were held in storage, but by that time, the subject FM-2 had been flown out. The Navy struck BuNo 86564 from its inventory on February 28, 1946 and it was transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corp. for disposal.

FM-2 BuNo 86564 to Buckeye Union High School in April 1946

Within five weeks of its designation as surplus, the RFC transferred the essentially brand new Wildcat to the Buckeye Union High School at Buckeye, Arizona. It was flown from NAS Tillamook to NAF Litchfield Park, west of Phoenix, by, it appears, 1st Lt. Don Masters (USMCR) from squadron VRF-3. The transfer papers showed the aircraft equipped with an R-1820-56WA engine with the serial of 113542.

At Litchfield Park, it was turned over to a representative of the Buckeye High School on April 15, 1946. Presumably, the little fighter was moved overland to the school.

Why the school wanted the FM-2 and to what purpose it was put has been lost to history. The school’s original mascot was “Wildcats” but that had changed, according to Wikipedia, to “Hawks” in 1929. Perhaps there was a technical school requirement that the FM-2 was assigned to. In any event, this is one of dozens, probably hundreds, of such transfers from the RFC to school districts and other civic organizations for use as teaching aids, memorials, or displays. Despite a diligent search, no records or photos of the Wildcat when held by the school have surfaced.

August 1949 Sale to Marsh Aviation and Further Civil History of FM-2 N4629V

The FM-2 lasted with the high school through the 1948-1949 school year when it probably became an eyesore. It was sold, on August 30, 1949, to Marsh Aviation Company at nearby Phoenix. Whether the school actually held title to the Wildcat is doubtful as the federal government usually retained ownership of such display aircraft. Nonetheless, the transfer slipped through the cracks and Marsh Aviation obtained title and the CAA assigned the registration of N4269V to BuNo 86564.

Marsh Aviation possibly operated on the old Litchfield Park Airport (not the naval air facility) in the 1950s, though details of use for the FM-2 are unknown. Marsh was an crop dusting company, so it is possible the Wildcat was either converted or slated for conversion to that purpose. In any event, it was sold on June 20, 1951, to Joseph C. Shell of Los Angeles. Shell evidently owned Acme Aircraft at the Torrance Airport south of Los Angeles.

Maintenance records show that the FM-2 was “converted to civilian status” in work completed by Acme Aircraft on July 23, 1951.

Shell owned N4629V only until June 6, 1952, when it was sold to the Rogue River Valley Traffic Association at Medford, Oregon. It may have been employed in a hail suppression program (weather modification) but that is speculation only based on other projects of the association.

It was sold again, on March 24, 1954, to Grover Collins of Bakersfield, California. The first application to the CAA for an airworthiness certificate was made by Collins on April 9, 1954. The application was for a limited certificate (AL-25 for the FM-2 Wildcat). What Collins used the FM-2 for has not been determined; it may have just been for transportation or fun. No significant modifications were recorded or evident from photos of the aircraft.

At some point during this period, the civil Wildcat was painted with white upper surfaces on the fuselage and vertical stabilizer, with dark red or orange lower fuselage surfaces, wings, and horizontal stabilizer. A U.S. flag was added on the tail along with the civil registration number in small figures. The registration was also added in large figures on the lower left wing and upper right wing, most likely in white. Propeller spinner was dark red or orange, and a black anti-glare panel stretched forward from the cockpit forward.

Reportedly, this view shows FM-2 **N4629V** in the late 1950s or early 1960s at the McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. At this time, the airplane was owned by Grover Collins of Bakersfield, California. The paint scheme is upper fuselage white, the remainder a dark red or orange. (Photo: C.M. Daniels Collection)

A report dated August 30, 1956, showed total aircraft and engine time of 340 hours.

This color view shows the airplane reportedly at Riverside, California, in July 1960. A close up look at the name under the cockpit shows it to be “Grover Collins,” then the owner of the aircraft. (Photo via Frederick Douglas)

It was then sold, on August 16, 1961, to Carl H. Steffens of Palo Alto, California. He owned the aircraft for just six months, and its base and usage are unknown.

FM-2 N4629V Comes to Tallmantz Aviation in February 1962

Tallmantz Aviation purchased the Wildcat on February 19, 1962. The company took title to the aircraft (vs. Frank Tallman holding title) and the aircraft was delivered to Orange County Airport.

Frank Tallman and Paul Mantz were evidently in the collecting stage for the Movieland of the Air museum as there appears to be no pending projects that called for a Wildcat. In much the same manner, an A-24B (SBD Dauntless) was purchased around the same time. From the photo evidence, the FM-2 regained a Navy paint scheme shortly after purchase. Though not authentic to today’s warbird standards, it fairly replicates the early wartime scheme.

This April 1963 view shows the FM-2 in what appears to be a very fresh paint scheme, The markings replicate an F4F based at Wake Island in the very early days of the war. Location of the photo is a bit of a mystery. It is not the Tallmantz base at Orange County. It may be nearby Ontario with “The Air Museum’ (note the pickup in the back with “Air Museum” marked on the back). In any event, in this view the “N” number has not yet been applied to the aircraft replacing the Bureau number under the horizontal stabilizer. (Photo by Bud E. Donato via Nicholas A. Veronico Collection)

Initially, the Navy bureau number was applied with the aircraft type under the horizontal stabilizer. Later, the civil registration was applied over the Navy bureau number in three inch characters

FM-2 N4629V Replicates Wake Island Defender BuNo 4022

Details of the paint scheme: markings on the FM-2 were added with the fuselage code of “211-F-8” applied, indicating a replication of F4F-1 BuNo 4022 as flown by USMC squadron VMF-211 during the defense of Wake Island in December 1941, shortly after the attack at Pearl Harbor. BuNo 4022 was flown by Captain Herbert C. Freuler on its only sortie on December 22, 1941. Freuler shot down three Japanese aircraft. It was damaged in the combat and Freuler was wounded, but nonetheless made it back to Wake Island where he crash landed. The remains of the aircraft were captured by the Japanese when the island fell the next day. Freuler was also captured and spent the balance of the long war as a Japanese POW.

FM-2 **N4629V** as displayed in its Wake Island scheme at the Movieland of the Air museum between 1962 and 1968. The date of this photo is unknown. Note the “8” on the nose cowl ring…the squadron aircraft number…such details were often missed on “warbird” schemes of that era. (photo: AAHS-s027535)

Not the best photo but it shows to advantage the Wake Island markings of VMF-211 applied to FM-2 **N4629V** sometime around 1963 or so. The markings replicate that of F4F-2 BuNo **4022** as flown by Capt. Herbert Freuler when he shot down three enemy aircraft on December 22, 1941. (Photo: AAHS-s027536

Engine Change and Work on N4629V

Besides the application of the paint scheme and markings, Tallmantz did work on the aircraft to include recovering of the flight controls. In March 1963, N4629V was equipped with an R-1820-205A engine, s/n 157953. The engine came from Steward-Davis at nearby Long Beach, a long-time supplier to Tallmantz Aviation.

Tallmantz Aviation and Wildcat N4629V

Besides the application of the paint scheme, there appears to have been little or no use of the Wildcat other than as an distinctive display at the Movieland of the Air museum. It was possibly flown for flight displays and/or to local airshows, but nothing has surfaced to verify that. No information on TV or film projects involving the Wildcat have surfaced.

FM-2 N4629V Sold to Rosen-Novak in February 1966

FM-2 N4629V was sold to the Rosen-Novak Auto Co. on February 18, 1966, one day short of four years since Tallmantz had purchased it. As noted elsewhere, Rosen-Novak purchased a large portion of the Tallmantz collection on that date as Tallmantz was desperate to raise cash to settle lawsuits and other financial demands after the death of Paul Mantz in July 1965.

The Wildcat remained on display at the Movieland of the Air Museum as Rosen-Novak sought a buyer for the aircraft collection. After there were no takers, some of the collection was sold off individually, but the majority of the collection was sold at an auction held on May 29, 1968…generally known as the famous “Tallmantz Auction” but really should be known as the “Rosen-Novak Auction.”

This photo was used to illustrate the FM-2 in the auction catalog for the May 29, 1968, event. The sale of **N4629V** brought $4,750 and ownership to F.R. Davis.

FM-2 N4629V Sold At Auction, May 1968

FM-2 N4629V was sold that day to F.R. Davis of Beaverton, Oregon, for the sum of $4,750 (that’s $40,800 in 2022 dollars). Frank Davis owned the Alaska Sleeping Bag Company, based at Beaverton. However, what use was made of the Wildcat by Davis between 1968 and 1981 has not yet been determined.

It is known that Davis may have “sold” N4629V to Aero Air, Inc. of Hillsboro, Oregon, for $12,000 on January 19, 1971, but the deal was never consummated. Davis retained ownership of the Wildcat. It is probably a safe presumption that the Wildcat was based at the Hillsboro airport while owned by Davis.

FM-2 N4629V Sold to Charles Nichols and Yanks Air Museum in 1982

It was, instead, sold by Frank Davis to Charles F. Nichols of West Covina, California, on September 6, 1981. Nichols was the founder of the Yanks Air Museum at Chino, California in 1982, where the aircraft has since remained on display. It appears to be in near airworthy status, though it is not known when it was last flown. The paint scheme is of a late-war Wildcat, overall dark Glossy Sea Blue scheme with standard insignia, and is otherwise devoid of markings.

A minor but notable error was that the aircraft serial number was applied to the tail as “85564” vs. the correct 86564.

Though several of the museum’s aircraft, such as its P-63 Kingcobra and F6F-3 Hellcat have been made airworthy again, as of 2024, the museum has no plans to return the FM-2 to airworthy condition.