Art Scholl

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Art Scholl
Art Scholl in his Super Chipmunk N13Y at a 1984 California airshow
Born
Arthur Everett Scholl

December 24, 1931
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedSeptember 16, 1985(1985-09-16) (aged 53)
Pacific Ocean
Cause of deathPlane crash (failed to recover from an intentional spin)
Resting placePacific Ocean
NationalityAmerican
Other namesArt Scholl
OccupationCommercial aerobatic pilot
Years active1950–1985
Known forAerobatics, stunt flying and air displays
SpouseJudy Scholl
Children2

Arthur Everett Scholl (December 24, 1931 – September 16, 1985) was an American aerobatic pilot, aerial cameraman, flight instructor and educator based in Riverside, Southern California. He died during the filming of Top Gun when his Pitts S-2 camera plane failed to recover from a spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean.[1]

Work[edit]

Art Scholl's Super Chipmunk aircraft at the Reno Air Races 1968.

Scholl came to California from Milwaukee as a young man, entered Mt. San Antonio College and eventually California State University, San Jose, where he earned a degree in aeronautics. After receiving a master's degree at California State University, Los Angeles, he taught aeronautics in San Bernardino.

After 18 years, he decided he was stagnating and quit to become a full-time stunt pilot.[2][3]

Scholl performed across the United States and internationally from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s. In the mid-1960s he was a professor and head of the Department of Aeronautics at San Bernardino Valley College and an experienced pilot of midget air racers.[4] He flew a pair of modified de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk aircraft, renamed "Super Chipmunks"[5] (FAA registration numbers N13A, N13Y)[a] and occasionally a third aircraft N1804Q, before an estimated audience of 80 million people over 20 years and appeared in more than 200 motion picture features, documentaries and television commercials. The aircraft were recognizable for their red, white and blue livery and Pennzoil corporate sponsorship.

Scholl held four FAA certificates. He was an Airline Transport Pilot in multi-engine land and sea planes, with commercial privileges in airplane single engine land and airplane single engine sea, helicopters, and gliders. He held certificates as both a flight instructor and ground instructor. In addition, he was also a certificated airframe and power plant mechanic with an inspection authorization. In 1976 Scholl earned a Ph.D. in Aviation Management. He taught aeronautics at San Bernardino Valley College for 18 years, eventually becoming head of the department.

Scholl founded an aerobatics school and maintenance facility at Flabob Airport in Riverside, California. He converted it to a full-service fixed-base operation (FBO) when he moved it to Rialto Municipal Airport, then known as Miro Field, in Rialto, California in 1978.[1][6][b] He produced several highly successful air shows at Miro Field, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators. Miro Field has since been renamed Art Scholl Memorial Field in his memory. Scholl's company, Art Scholl Aviation, continues to operate there and offers fuel, aircraft maintenance services, and aircraft mock-ups used in film and TV production.

Scholl's signature aircraft were his two Super Chipmunks; he bought his first one in 1963 and his second one in 1968. His skill as a licensed aircraft mechanic helped Scholl in modifying the aircraft extensively; clipping its wings, adding retractable landing gear, converting them to single-seat, adding an autopilot and a much bigger engine. At the height of his popularity as an air show performer in the 1970s, Scholl flew two Super Chipmunks, basing one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. His Super Chipmunk was licensed to various model manufacturers for both flying and static models; collectors now actively seek the Cox control line model. Although less widely recognized, Scholl also owned and flew a Pitts S-2A in the same red, white, and blue livery. Another Art Scholl signature was his dog, "Aileron", who occasionally flew in the Super Chipmunk's cockpit with Scholl in his air show performances. Aileron was hugely popular with the crowds.

Scholl's aerial camera work appeared in many Ridgewood school commercials, television shows and films, including The Right Stuff, The Great Waldo Pepper, Blue Thunder, Vega$, The A-Team, CHiPs, Iron Eagle, and Top Gun, his final work in a motion picture. Top Gun in its last line of credit states "This film is dedicated to the memory of Art Scholl."[8]

Scholl was a member of the five-person aerobatic team representing the United States in international competition from 1963 through 1972. He flew competition at Moscow in 1966; Magdeburg, East Germany, 1968; Hullavington, England, 1970, and Salon de Provence, France.[2][3] In 1974, he won the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship in a Pitts S-2A.

Personal life[edit]

Scholl's wife, Judy, helped run his business and manage his performances.[2][3]

Bob Hoover, the World War II fighter pilot, former test pilot and fellow aerobatic pilot, was a close friend of Scholl. Hoover was often at Scholl's Rialto facility, where he also maintained a hangar for his aircraft.

Scholl died during the filming of Top Gun when his Pitts S-2 camera plane failed to recover from a spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. He had entered the spin intentionally in order to capture it on film using on-board cameras. Observers watched the plane continue to spin as it descended past the planned recovery altitude. Scholl's last words over the radio were "I have a problem‚ I have a real problem,” after which the plane impacted the ocean about five miles off the coast, near Carlsbad, California. The exact cause of the crash was never determined.[9] Neither the aircraft nor Scholl's body were ever recovered.[2][3]

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1973 Jonathon Livingston Seagull Pilot; aerobatic aircraft
1973 Never Look Back UCLA aeronautics professor
1975 The Great Waldo Pepper Red Baron Uncredited
Also stunts
1980 Where the Buffalo Roam Light Plane Pilot #1
1980 Herbie Goes Bananas Stunt player
1981 CHiPs Bomb Run S5 E1
1983 The Right Stuff Stunt Pilot
1983 To Be or Not to Be Stunt Pilot
1984 Flashpoint Stunt Pilot
1984 Impulse Pilot
1985 Prime Risk Flight Instructor
1985 Explorers Stunt Pilot
1985 The Man with One Red Shoe Helicopter Pilot
1986 Top Gun Stunt Pilot Uncredited
1986 Iron Eagle Special aerial stunts Final film

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Art Scholl's Super Chipmunk N13A was sold in April 1972 to J. Reid Garrison, FBO operator at the Oconee Airport in Clemson, South Carolina, and moved to the Anderson Municipal Airport in Anderson, South Carolina, when Garrison relocated his business there in the 1980s. Super Chipmunk N13Y went to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., in 1987.
  2. ^ David Carradine names Art Scholl as one of his instructors in his preparation for his role as an aerobatic pilot in Cloud Dancer (1980).[7]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Top 10 Tragic Movie Set Deaths". Listverse. December 7, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d Jones, Jack, "Famed Stunt Pilot Art Scholl Dies as Plane Plunges Into Sea", Los Angeles Times, 18 September 1985.
  3. ^ a b c d "Famed Stunt Pilot Art Scholl Dies as Plane Plunges Into Sea". Los Angeles Times. September 18, 1985.
  4. ^ Taylor, John W. R. (1967). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1967–1968. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. page 344.
  5. ^ Air Trails: 47. Winter 1971.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  6. ^ "Final fly-in for Art Scholl Aviation at Rialto airport". dailybulletin.com. September 2014.
  7. ^ David Carradine (1995). Endless Highway. Journey Editions. pp. 463–464. ISBN 1-885203-20-9.
  8. ^ "Famous Missing - Art Scholl". Check-Six.com. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  9. ^ National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Final Report

External links[edit]

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