The History of the Mansdorf Family
Max Mansdorf – Father of all the Mansdorf Children, Head of the Family.
Sadie Mansdorf – Mother of all the Mansdorf Children. She remained as head of household when her and Max separated around 1950. She was the original settlor of the Trust, via her deposit of the Beverly Hills Mansion into the Trust in 1967.
Mildred Mansdorf – Oldest Sister; Settlor of the Trust; Believed to have been killed by Giacomazza in March 2007.
Lee Mansdorf – Oldest Brother, Settlor of the Trust, Original Trustee of the Trust. Believed to have been poisoned by Rufus Von Thulen Rhoades. in 2003
Harry Mansdorf – Next Brother, Settlor of the Trust, First Successor Trustee of the Trust. Harry Mansdorf was a B-24 bomber pilot in World War II who was taken prisoner by the Nazis. The Allies traded 164 German prisoners for Harry, another American, and three British soldiers – that’s how Harry made it home. After the war, he joined with other family members in their family aircraft sales business. Mr. Mansdorf just passed in August of 2012.
Fred Mansdorf – Younger brother, passed away early in life. Prior to his untimely passing, Fred was heavily involved in the airplane business with Lee and Norman, helping to expand and drive their company to a global position.
Norman Mansdorf – Lee, Fred and Norman Mansdorf entered the aircraft business, buying, rebuilding and selling planes, along with engaging in large, notable humanitarian efforts. While Harry was away at the War, Norman worked with Lee to build the family aircraft business. Believed to have been killed by Giacomazza in 2004.
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The Mansdorfs originally lived on a farm, (the turkey farm), with their Father and Mother.
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Lee, Harry and Mildred rode to school on a single horse.
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Walking home they would play with the old airplane in a barn.
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Harry was drafted by the Navy, transferred to the Air force, flew a B-24 Bomber, was shot down twice-the second time he was held as a POW for over a year.
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Lee was a test pilot.
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Lee, Fred and Norman, (while Harry was away) began buying army surplus parts.
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They then refurbished and manufactured motors for various aircraft.
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Fred was the genius mechanic.
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Lee was the aircraft genius.
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All were modern day tradesmen.
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They would fly to Brazil and obtain big chested horses, then fly to Florida and trade the horses for abalone and such and such, throughout the world.
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Traded aircraft for 775,000 acres to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
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Lee was kicked out of the country by Chavez because Lee gave 10,000 acres to the peasants/Indians.
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They made numerous flights to Cuba (while Castro was in power but prior to trade embargo).
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They pioneered telling the news from the sky, holding a fleet of rebuilt helicopters.
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They pioneered pulling signs in the sky with a plane and skywriting with a plane.
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The Mansdorf sons, Harry, Lee, Norman and Fred built the Beverly Hills mansion in 1952 for their Mother, Mildred.
The Mansdorf Family Revocable Trust, dated August 31, 1967
The Trust was started in 1967, with Saide Mansdorf as the Trustor (by her depositing the family home on Alta Drive in Beverly Hills into the Trust), Settlor and beneficiary, Lee Mansdorf as the Trustee, Settlor and a beneficiary, Harry Mansdorf as successor Trustee, Settlor and beneficiary, Norman Mansdorf as second successor Trustee, Settlor and Beneficiary, and Mildred Mansdorf as Settlor and Beneficiary.
The corpus of the TRUST includes real and personal property located in the Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura, State of California, as well as other property. Lee Mansdorf was the Trustee of the TRUST from its creation until he died on or about June 27, 2003. Harry Mansdorf was the trustee of the TRUST after Lee Mansdorf died until August 27, 2013. Jaime Gonzalez was and is the trustee post-Harry Mansdorf, with the trust becoming irrevocable by its terms, upon the passing of Harry Mansdorf.
Mansdorf Family Trust property in Southern California is currently known to be in at least three locations: 1) approximately 1,000+ acres in La Tuna Canyon, (First Row), a Mansion in Beverly Hills, (Second Row), and approximately 1300-1700 acres of land in the City of Malibu, County of Ventura, (Third Row)
The Mansdorf Contribution to the Space-Race
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced his plans for the United States to put the first man on the moon by 1970. The space race officially shifted into high gear. His announcement also triggered events that led to the manufacture of one of the oddest looking planes in aviation history—the Pregnant Guppy, an aircraft that would help make Kennedy’s goal a reality.Rocket engine boosters for the Saturn missions were made by Douglas Aircraft Company in Sacramento, Calif., and rockets were launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Because the boosters were so tremendous—40 feet long and 18 feet high—transporting them from one side of the country to the other was no small feat. What land vehicle or train could manage such a cargo? Ships required 15 days to make the trip through the Panama Canal. Cargo aircraft could do it in a fraction of the time, but typical cargo planes could only carry machinery about half the booster’s size. Jack Conroy, an “aviation visionary,” and Lee Mansdorf, a businessman who bought and sold aircraft, decided they were up to the task of creating a giant plane to transport such a sizable load. They created Aero Spacelines Inc. (ASI) and convinced Wernher von Braun, NASA’s rocketry chief, to hear their ideas. He gave them three days to make their proposal.
Conroy and Mansdorf formulated the Guppy concept one evening over dinner. It was decided a company needed to be established to manufacture outsized aircraft. Conroy hired Robert W. Lillibridge as Vice President-Manufacturing and Engineering, and assembled a team for the project. Financing was provided by venture capitalist William Ballon, a World War II combat veteran from the Army Air Corps. Once the company was established at Van Nuys Airport, California, Aero Spacelines began in 1960 to engineer the transformation of the Boeing 377 airliner into the Pregnant Guppy.
Conroy and Mansdorf’s plan was based on three stages using parts of Boeing 377 Stratocruisers and KC-97 Stratotankers. The first stage would lengthen the fuselage by 16 feet, eight inches. Stage two created a 19-foot, six-inch cargo area over the existing fuselage using internal bracing. After testing, they’d cut away the old fuselage and the temporary bracing. Von Braun was impressed and gave them the go-ahead to proceed.
Among the earliest of NASA'S shipments utilizing the Pregnant Guppy were the first and second stages of the Gemini Program's Titan II GVL from the Martin Co. in Baltimore, Maryland, to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Subsequent versions of the Guppy series transported the S-IVB, the third stage of the Saturn booster from California to Florida.
In September 1963, the Pregnant Guppy made its first flight for NASA. Its payload included the S-IV stage for the fifth Saturn I launch vehicle—a crucial contribution to the entire space program.
This Pregnant Guppy idea from Mr. Jack Conroy and Lee Mansdorf was a key piece of American ingenuity and history which ferried moon rocket parts from the West Coast for NASA in the 1960s to put America on the moon ahead of the Russians. Wernher von Braun stated that "The Guppy was the single most important piece of equipment to put a man on the moon in the decade of the 1960s."
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