Do You Remember The Great Old We

Although it had strong cowboy show elements, King always captured criminals and even spies as well as finding lost hikers using his airplane.

He and his niece, Penny (and sometimes Clipper, his nephew) lived on the the Flying Crown Ranch, near the (fictitious) town of Grover City, Arizona.

Radio

The radio show, the brainchild of Robert Morris Burtt and Wilfred Gibbs Moore, who also created Captain Midnight, first aired in 1946. Several actors played the part of Sky, including Earl Nightingale.

The radio show ran until 1954, being aired simultaneously with the television version.

Television

The television version starred Kirby Grant as Sky King and Gloria Winters as his teen-aged niece Penny. Other regular characters included his nephew Clipper, played by Ron Hagerthy, and Mitch the sheriff, played by Ewing Mitchell. Mitch was always coming to Sky for help.

Largely a show for kids, although it sometimes aired in primetime, Sky King became an icon in the aviation community. Many pilots (including American astronauts) who grew up watching Sky King name him as an influence.

Thought plot lines were often simplistic, Grant (being a pilot) was able to bring a casual, natural treatment of technical details which led to a level of believability not found in other TV series involving aviation or life in the American West. Likewise, villains and other characters were usually shown as intelligent and believable, rather than as two-dimensional. The writing was generally well above the standard for contemporary half-hour programs.

The television show was notable for its dramatic opening with and air-to-air shot of the Songbird banking sharply away from the camera and its engines roaring, while the announcer proclaimed "From out of the clear blue of the Western sky . . .comes Sky King!" The short credit roll which followed was equally dramatic, with the Songbird swooping at the camera across El Mirage dry lake, then pulling up into a steep climb as it went away. The end title featured a musical theme, with the credits superimposed over an air-to-air shot of the Songbird, cruising at altitude for several moments then banking to the left and turning away (similar to the opening shot).

Production Notes

At the beginning of the television series, Sky flew a Cessna T-50 twin-engine "Bamboo Bomber," actually owned by Grant, who in real life was a pilot. The plane was made of wood and eventually became unsafe to fly.

The best-known Songbird was a twin-engine Cessna 310B. There were actually four of these planes, one which crashed (killing the pilot) and three others, one of which had its markings modified for filming so that the numbers would match stock footage. One of the other 310s was used as a camera ship, thus to match the flight characteristics of the plane being filmed as well as providing an additional backup plane, and the other was primarily used for promotional purposes.

Legendary stunt pilot Paul Mantz flew the Songbird in most flying scenes. Grant flew as much as possible, but pressure from the insurance underwriters made it difficult for him to get air time.

The show was filmed in black-and-white during three periods as sponsors changed: 1951-52 (Derby Foods), 1955-56 and 1957-62 (Nabisco, though the copyright notices continued to name Derby Foods). It continued in syndication for years afterward. There are 72 episodes still in existence and available for sale on DVD. A vault fire is believed to have destroyed the only prints of 64 episodes.

A unique introduction featured the triangular Nabisco logo flying across the screen, accompanied by the sound of the Songbird flying past.

Though set in Arizona, the series was filmed in California. The ranch house used for exterior shots of the Flying Crown Ranch is an actual home in Apple Valley, California. Other locations were shot in and around Apple Valley and the nearby San Bernardino Mountains, George Air Force Base and China Lake Naval Air Station.

While expensive for a kids' show, most of the budget went into aircraft, vehicles and sets. This meant that some standard production methods had to be abandoned, giving the series a more realistic look. For instance, in some shots, actors actually did taxi aircraft rather than the more common method of simulating movement by towing or dolly shots.

The budget issue also forced the frequent reuse of stock footage, sometimes flipped over to show planes banking the opposite direction, thus sometimes letters and numbers were seen in mirror-image.

The black-and-white film masked the actual paint scheme of the Cessna 310 Songbirds, which were done in a rich multi-color pattern of gold, bronze, black and white.

Remarkably, Nabisco sold the series to Grant in 1959. In later years, Grant considered bringing back the series and even a "Sky King" theme park, but nothing ever happened on either of these projects.

Regular Cast

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Catch phrase

Radio

Television

Production Notes

Regular Cast