Martin Mars - Oshkosh Trip Prep - Part 1 

Thanks Kermit. As a former A&P, I really appreciate your Kermie Cam adventures. You take us viewers to locations and inside aircraft we would never get a chance to see. I love all the great info you share with us former mechanics and pilots. What a great way to celebrate our great American history of flight. God Bless and be safe. 👍👍

There is no one on this earth like Kermit Weeks, kind, intelligent, educated and rich. Rich with love, kindness and soul. I love you man. Thank you for documenting this.

The sheer logistics of ground handling these beauties,they are true feats of aeronautical engineering,Coulson seems a real laid back kind of guy and not afraid to join in the handling and get his hands dirty.

So much history in B.C.! Thank you Mr.Coulson and Kermit!

I currently reside in a small town on Vancouver Island. Kermit, having been a wannabe pilot for many years I truly enjoy your videos on all your and others' aircraft. So thanks for all your efforts! I watched the series you did on these Martin aircraft when I stumbled across it the other day. For many years I have wanted to go there and tour them, but never have been able to get the stars to align. The closest I got to the Mars was when they were fighting the Garnet Fire in Penticton, BC in the 90's. I was learning to sail in Okanagan Lake. I could count the rivets as one nearly topped my mast. What a rush! On another note, I am not so sure about Mr. Coulson's take on the relationships between wildfire, old growth trees, and harvesting timber. While his intentions are good and he does a great job which has saved many a life and hectare there is definitely more to the story. Being trained as both a biologist and a wooden boatbuilder the topic is quite near to my heart. It seems to me that due in part to our past wildfire suppression(and the resultant fuel build-up) we have manipulated the fire/forest ecology so that certain forest companies can accrue quick wealth. Sometimes fires need to be left to burn as in the past before "settlement". Only if there is enough fuel on the forest floor will trees candle(I realize this is a simplistic way of looking at things and the total issue is much more complex, but in essence it will make sense). The hardest-to-get-to big trees have not fallen with the roar of a chainsaw, but they are few. Next time you are up Kermit(if ever, as I realize you are a very busy guy) I would encourage you to find someone to take you on a tour to see some of that old growth habitat(I have been lucky enough to get to a few of these places). You will be amazed, I guarantee it. Like these aircraft, the trees are indeed monstrous, and an incredible sight to behold. And like these aircraft, these trees need to be preserved, because, and excuse the cliche, once they are gone, they're gone. Unlike aircraft, trees of that age can't be recreated, even if you have the seeds(blueprints for growth). Sorry, I hope my spiel wasn't off-putting. Kudos to the Coulson Group on doing a great job in keeping these planes going. And Kermit keep up the great work on all the great aircraft in your collection and others flying around the world.

yay there's cockpit audio coming up sweet

Those aircraft are amazing.

My dad was a crew member on the Hawaiian Mars during Korea stationed out of Hawaii

Very cool vid!

These Aircraft have been preserved through circumstance and a need. Imagine if the timber companies and BC forestry sought a different type? They would have had the same fate as the Boeing 314. History Kermit I hope you can buy them.

Awesome video Kermit great cinematography man of many talents :-)

There is something so enchanting about these aircraft, I can't exactly express it but it feels a bit like falling in love.

Ever since learning about these planes they have fascinated me. We are fortunate to have two of these aircraft in such excellent condition. Thanks, Kermit for getting as much exposure of these marvels on RU-vid. Looking forward to parts 2 and 3 of your trip to Mars. Loved your trip to Oshkosh.

FASCINATING ADVENTURE!

Awesome to see life on Mars! Thanks for sharing, Kermit.

Amazing! Can't wait for #2 and #3. I'm GLAD you are redoing your "Kermie Cam" series. Audio is MUCH better. steve

Wow! Such a grand piece of history! Very rare and wonderful. Hope the Martin Mars collection has a happy ending.

These are such fantastic aircraft. I hope they can be repurposed and preserved. It would be a shame for them to rot away. Keep them flying!

Like you said, that is soooooooo KEWL. Thanks for sharing, Love it.

Thanks Kermit,. loved the video, can't wait to see the other 2 vids

Kermie Cam with voice over is awesome!! Well done Kermit...

Thank you for sharing!

AMAZING !!! thanks for sharing this

Grinning along with you, Kermit!

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome....thanks so much for sharing. Hope you get to buy one, or two.

I hope at least one of these amazing airplanes can be preserved. They are an irreplaceable part of aviation history. I can’t imagine the costs involved, but I hope you can buy at least one of them Kermit. Imagine having one of these beautiful flying boats at Fantasy of Flight ! As Kermit would say .... “ Too Cool ! “ 😃

What a plane!

Well done Kermit! Can wait for the rest! Buy the dam thing! Aloha!

COOL ... just a note; saw all your aircraft at Oshkosh in July, really nice of you to start each and explain what they were ! ...Hope to visit Fantasy of Flight sometime and see them on their home turf .... you have some great planes ! .... waiting' for part 2.

Thanks. that is some kind of Process.

Love to see a walk around, and flight time in a F4U! I once worked in the building were they were built, in Stratford conm. Still one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built! Thanks for all your videos!

Nice!

Very nice buddy...... hoping for a nice vid on part 2.

Very cool

What fun!

Kermit - In a different time, Do you think you would of made an SR71 pilot? My guess is yes. You come across as a pilot that understand all of the thresholds of flight from the delicate to the robust..

Amazing photography. I wonder who did it? Lol. Classic

"Get your ass to mahhhs" JK Very cool airplanes!

Best jump on it before you regret it. Even if they don’t fly again nice to see and walk through

Senhor Kermit sou muito seu fã queria muito conhecer o senhor pessoalmente.

Would it be cool if they can work a deal with Kermit. He does have that lake next to Fantasy of Flight. We can only hope.

When do you reckon you'll be taking delivery of the Hawaii, sir? ;-)

Very cool aircraft! What type is the Martin Mars?

Love these! Is your lake big enough to take one of these home, Kermit? :)

I suspect it’s been studied and the maybe conclusion was it’s not economically viable but it would be interesting to do a computer model with retrofitted turbine engines, assuming the airframe can handle the additional thrust, to learn how much better the performance would be, including faster reloading turnaround.

i was seeing the video the beaching gear.is your Short Sunderland the same way too with floats when taken off and brought ashore.

Aviao lindo gostei dele kkkkkk

Would love to have seen a tour of the Phillipine Mars

I thought of these plane in July when all of the southwest was on fire.

Wow a 200 ft wingspan big as two football fields. but if you were to aquire one of them having pulley systems constructed on your seaplane ramp. thats bigger than your Short Sunderland

What's the story behind the Phillipine Mars and the US Navy. Had they made a deal to hand it over etc? Thanks

I have a feeling these planes are going to say Weeks Flying Tankers on the tail sooner or later. Lol

when will part 2 come out

Like to contact you about the A6M

Was this filmed on your trip to Oshkosh last month?

6 people are very strange 😀

Do they take the wheels off or do the wheels stay on the plane and tuck up into those boxes?

now that they are fighting fire in them, and the navy museum doesn't want philippine mars, whats going to happen to them? are you interested in one? id hate to see them rot away

bom

When is this supposed to go Pensacola?

That guy's history doesn't match what a couple of other sources say. Caroline Mars (note spelling) was lost due to storm damage, and the Marianas Mars had the crash whilst fire fighting.

In many years to come, people are going to wonder how the last generation built these things, like we wonder how the Egyptians built the pyramids.

So what will be the fate of these planes? BC sure could have used the old girls this fire season as it was one of the worst on record.

Oh God please do not scrape these Aircraft

Wait so 70 years is too old but they replace it with another 70 year old design? Sounds like bad business to me, unless these planes are worth more than the C130.