Seeing him wandering around San Francisco, his girlfriend Virginia Ames (Louise Lovely), with the help of Dr. Wayne Leveridge (Sam De Grasse), devises a plan to help him restore his memory.

[3] Principal photography on The Skywayman began on June 11, 1920, with DeMille Field 2 in Los Angeles as the main base of operations, although scenes were also shot in and around San Francisco.

Locklear, under a lot of pressure, with not only his family life being in upheaval but also learning that studio head William Fox was not going to extend his contract beyond one film, demanded that he be allowed to fly at night.

[8] Large studio arc lights were set up on DeMille Field 2 to illuminate the Curtiss "Jenny", to be doused as the aircraft entered its final spin, to be turned off when the plane dropped to a certain altitude to inform Locklear about his position.

The arc lights were never turned off though,[9] and to shocked spectators and film crew, Locklear and his long-time flying partner Milton "Skeets" Elliot[10] crashed heavily into the sludge pool of an oil well, never pulling out of the spin.

[11] With the entire film already "in the can" except for the night scene, Fox made the decision to capitalize on the crash and deaths of Locklear and Elliot, by rushing The Skywayman into production and release.