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Hawaii Martin "C-FLYL"

Mars Martin: Hundreds of vintage plane enthusiasts and curiosity seekers waited outside the Vancouver Convention and Exposition Center this afternoon for a very unusual performance from one of two Martin Mars water bombers still in service. About 2:15 PM, the Hawaii Mars fired up her engines and commenced taxiing from Second Narrows, along the northern side of Burrard Inlet and into Coal Harbor both warming up engines and providing spectators on the North Shore and News Media flying overhead the opportunity to observe the 117 ft 3 in long flying boat scoot through the water.

Soon after the roundabout in Coal Harbor, the Martin Mars took off, heading northeast toward Second Narrows before doing a wide circle and water scoop pass to fill up the 27,250 liters water tank, which is enough to cover an area of 4 acres (16,000 m²).

Our red and white Albatross flew west along Burrard inlet then circled around Stanley Park and the West End of Down Town Vancouver before flying low over Coal Harbor to drop it's payload in front of a cheering audience at the northern tip of the Vancouver Convention and Exposition Center. Our entertainment flew along Burrard Inlet again toward Second Narrows, banked sharply to the north and around to follow the pervious pass over Stanley Park and the West End. Moments later, the jumbo flying boat swooped into Coal Harbor for a perfect landing.

One of the crew of four pokes his head out through the front hatch to secure a landline onto the eyelet in the nose, scoops up the anchor rope attached to the marker buoy, then secures the Hawaii Mars for a four point visual inspection of the four Wright R-3350s (18-cylinder radial engines, 2,500 hp each).

Background:

The Martin Company effectively scaled up their successful PBM Mariner patrol bomber design to produce the prototype XPB2M-1 Mars. After flight tests with the XPB2M between 1941 and 1943, she was passed on to the Navy. The original patrol bomber concept was considered obsolete by this time, and the Mars was converted into a transport aircraft designated the XPB2M-1R. The Navy was satisfied with the performance, and ordered 20 of the modified JRM-1 Mars. The first, named Hawaii Mars, was delivered in June 1945, but the with the end of World War II the Navy scaled back their order to just 5 more boats. Though the original Hawaii Mars was lost in an accident on Chesapeake Bay, the other 5 Mars were built with the last delivered in 1947.

Named the Marianas Mars, Philippine Mars, Marshall Mars, Caroline Mars, and a second Hawaii Mars, the 5 production Mars aircraft entered service ferrying cargo to Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. The last production airplane (the Caroline Mars) was designated JRM-2, powered by 3,000 HP Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, and featured a higher maximum weight and other improvements. On May 5, 1950, the Marshall Mars was lost near Hawaii when an engine fire consumed the airplane after her crew had evacuated. The remaining "Big Four" flew record amounts of cargo on the San Francisco-Honolulu route efficiently until 1956, when they were parked at NAS Alameda.

In 1959, the remaining Mars were sold for scrap. Dan McIvor, who represented a consortium of British Columbia lumber companies, recognized their potential value as water bombers and had them converted. A company called Flying Tankers Inc. was formed, and purchased the "Big Four" for aerial firefighting. The Marianas Mars crashed near Northwest Bay, British Columbia on June 23, 1961 during firefighting operations; all four crewmembers were lost. Just over a year later, on October 12, 1962, the Caroline Mars was destroyed by Typhoon Freda while parked onshore. The remaining Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars had their conversions to water bombers accelerated and entered service in 1963.

The two surviving tankers are now operated by the Coulson Group, based at Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, British Columbia. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Photographed on January 16, 2008.