Sky King (1951-1962)

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
"From out of the clear blue of the western sky comes Sky King"
was the familiar opening to television's premier aviation program.
Operating from his Flying Crown Ranch in Arizona,
Sky King, his niece Penny and their Cessna 310 airplane "Songbird"
were constantly involved in one adventure after another.
Viewed by many children in the 1950's, this program was responsible
for inspiring many later aviation careers.
Written by Wayne Coleman

Series Cast
Kirby Grant ... Sky King / ... (72 episodes, 1952-1959)
Gloria Winters ... Penny King (72 episodes, 1952-1959)
Ewing Mitchell ... Sheriff Mitch Hargrove (26 episodes, 1955-1959)
Ron Hagerthy ... Clipper King (19 episodes, 1952-1955)
Norman Ollestad ... Bob Carey (10 episodes, 1956-1957)
Bill Hale ... Bert / ... (6 episodes, 1956-1959)
Dennis Moore ... Charlie / ... (5 episodes, 1956-1959)
Rusty Wescoatt ... Frisco / ... (5 episodes, 1956-1959)
Monte Blue ... Sheriff Hollister (5 episodes, 1952-1955)
and many more....

Series Directed by
Hollingsworth Morse (15 episodes, 1952)
Jodie Copelan (12 episodes, 1956-1958)
Stuart E. McGowan (12 episodes, 1956-1958)
Clark L. Paylow (11 episodes, 1956-1959)
and a few more ....

Series Produced by
Dorrell McGowan .... executive producer (51 episodes, 1956-1959)
Clark L. Paylow .... producer (47 episodes, 1956-1959)
Stuart E. McGowan .... executive producer (20 episodes, 1956)
Jack Chertok .... producer (19 episodes, 1952)
Harry Poppe .... associate producer / producer (19 episodes, 1952)

Series Writing Credits
Burt Sims (7 episodes, 1956-1959)
William Welch (7 episodes, 1957-1958)
Adrian Gendot (5 episodes, 1956)
and many more....

Series Original Music by
Eve Newman (8 episodes, 1956)
Alec Compinsky (unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Carl Berger (20 episodes, 1956)
Robert Pittack (14 episodes, 1952)
William Bradford (12 episodes, 1958-1959)
and a couple more...

Trivia
There were two "Songbirds" used in the series - the first was a Cessna T-50 Bobcat,
the second was a Cessna 310B.

Filming Locations
Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA
Apple Valley Airport - Highway 18, Apple Valley, California, USA
(stock footage of the Cessna 310 Songbird takeoff and landings)
China Lake Naval Air Station, China Lake, California, USA
Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA
El Mirage Dry Lake, California, USA
(flying sequense during opening credits)
George Air Force Base, Victorville, California, USA
Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA
Rancherias Drive, Apple Valley, California, USA
(ranch house exteriors)
San Bernardino Mountains, California, USA

Sky King is an American radio and television adventure series.
The title character is Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot Schuyler "Sky" King.
The series was likely based on a true-life personality of the 1930s, Jack Cones,
the "Flying Constable" of Twentynine Palms in San Bernardino County, California,
although this claim is unverified

Although the series had strong western elements, King mostly captured criminals and spies
and found lost hikers with the use of his plane, the Songbird.
Though the planes used changed during the course of the series,
the later model was not given a number, but was still known as the Songbird.

King and his niece, Penny (and sometimes Clipper, his nephew), lived on the Flying Crown Ranch,
near the (fictitious) town of Grover, Arizona. Penny and Clipper were also pilots,
though still relatively inexperienced and looking to their uncle for guidance and mentoring.
Penny was an accomplished air racer and rated multi-engine pilot, whom Sky trusted to fly the Songbird.
It is unclear if Penny and Clipper were siblings or cousins.

The musical score was largely the work of Herschel Burke Gilbert.

User Review

Quote

two planes
20 September 2006 | by tootall1121 (United States)
there were two main planes in Sky King, the first was the Cessna twin 50, the second,
known as the Songbird was a Cessna B310, and is probably the better known plane.
I loved this series, though i saw it in Saturday afternoon reruns.
Why can't Tvland play it at night for all us old f*rts to enjoy again? I would watch it.
By the way, in one episode, I don't know which one, Sky King did fly jets.
According to the script, a Air Force General says, The real sky king can fly anything with wings.
(seems there was an imposter and thats how he tripped him up, saying that he heard
he didn't re-qualify on the jets) Best show of its type at the time.
The airplane idea was a nice leap into the now from the old westerns.

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