I just watched Hawaii do its final flight with the RCAF Snowbirds down the coast of Vancouver island to Patricia Bay. It has not been removed from the water and its final resting place is at the BC Aviation Museum in Victoria, BC, next to YYJ Airport. Was very emotional watching the plane do its final fly over with 10000 other people. I also remember watching the plane land in Sooke Basin where I grew up; it refilled its belly and did some training landings during the 90's there. So excited to be able to bring my son to visit the plane in a few months time and go on board myself!
My first ride in an airplane was on a Mars from Hawaii to California. I was about 4. My father was a Marine Colonel returning to the continental U.S. from a stint at MCAS Kaneohe as co. Hence, he got VIP. treatment. I was invited to the cockpit, put in the left seat and allowed to tug on the control wheel which was immobile due to the auto-pilot system being engaged. The ride out to the aircraft in Hawaii was in a boat. That and the taxi time on the water was my first experience of seasickness. How things have changed!
I flew from Hawaii to alameda when I was 9, I got to do all the things you did on the phillapine mars. I still remember the rocket packs when we took off. My father was a :o)
My first airplane ride was similar, though I was only about 9 months old -- we were returning from a stint at Midway (where I was born), via some TDY at Honolulu, to San Fran.
My father flew as Plane Commander on the Mars aircraft out of Alameda. This was in the early to mid fifties. They set several new records. One thing not mentioned here was that a mechanic could walk stooped over inside the wings to check engines. When the Navy decommissioned the Mars it was replaced briefly by the R3Y. In 1957 he was transferred to Japan. I was ten.
@@thumper742 Just a thought, if the plane was below a certain altitude then wings did not need to be pressurized for a person to stay alive! I do not have the plans for this, however some out there may and perhaps do if there was a way to go through the wings. Also remember that it is not mentioned in the original post that the plane was in flight! He was 10 then and may not have recalled all the details of his Fathers Words! I Suspect the wing walking, (inside) may have been a method of checking Engine oil levels as it was parked on Water when not Flying! Hard to use a ladder on water I think. John, Australia.
These old flying-boats come from an age where planes were still organic machines, mixing metal with wood, fabric... and a bit of magic. They got hella character. 💛
I had the.... I guess you could say pleasure? Of seeing 2 of these fight a forest Fire absolutely amazing watching them pick water up off the Okanagan lake!!
They have a long and rich firefighting history in BC, and are absolutely loved by the locals. Even the non aviation buffs know that they are something special, unique and rare. And though they have been basically retired for 20 years now, Coulson has kept them both in good condition, and Hawaii Mars is going to do her final flight in a couple of weeks. She is heading to the BC Aviation Museum, at Victoria International airport, to be put on permanent display. Fantastic to see Hawaii Mars staying local, where she spent the last 50 years as an icon. The second one, Philippine Mars, is supposed to go to Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona at some point. Needless to say, but her final flight to the museum is a big deal for the locals, and she is supposed to be doing a bit of a farewell flypast on her way to the museum. Last chance to see her in the air. And she is going to be on permanent display just up the highway from me, which I think worked out well for everyone involved.
I live near the museum. It was a very moving experience to see the grand maiden's final flight. She will be a featured aircraft. she's certainly big enough to be seen from a distance. Her history has deep roots in BC firefighting.
I saw these fight the massive Okanagan Mountain Fire in 2003, along with a stream of Bombardiers…. Truly a spectacle to see in real life. Thanks for this one!
My wife and I were returning from a brief holiday at Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. We decided to stop by Sproat Lake for a picnic lunch. The Mars water bombers were practicing across the lake from us, picking up and dropping loads. One of them must have spotted us sitting there, so he flew over and dropped a load of water about 50 yards from where we were sitting. What a sight! Our own private show.
Yeah.....I recall two flights over Langford outside Victoria and immediatly put out a large fire at Thetis lake....the sight and sound of that plane flying low over my house was awesome!
Hawaii Mars Flew for the last time in August 11, 2024, where it flew all over Vancouver Island as a farewell tour, before Landing in Saanich inlet (near the airport) to be delivered to the B.C. Aviation Museum. This airplane deserves to be revisited!
Seen these lots living all over BC all my life. Fought a few fires along the way myself. On the ground though. Live on Vancouver Island now just south of Port Alberni
I saw one of these beasts over thirty years ago while driving across Vancouver Island. It was cruising along on Sproat Lake, possibly picking up a load of water.
I was fortunate to see Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars fight a wildfire on the east coast of Vancouver Island in 1982, they refilled in Parksville Bay. When they took off from refilling under power, and climbed over town under near maximum power at about 500 feet altitude, it was a sight to behold, still fresh in my mind after 40+ years, water spray coming down from the hull and tank tubes. I was a regular for decades at the huge Abbotsford Airshow held on the mainland not far away and the Mars in action was a match for everything I saw there.
What a fantastic video! I'm a wildfire fighter in British Columbia. I have pictures of the Hawai mars picking up water in front of my grandma's house on the lake in 1998. It was a huge reason why the fire didn't take the town I grew up in. Every year we have a bad fire season (which is just about every year now) there's always petitions going around to get the government to contract the mars to help. You would be amazed, some of them get tens of thousands of signatures. People love the thing here, and rightly so. The most humourous petition to go around concerning the mars was a few years ago when we had really bad flooding. People wanted it to come and try and lower the level of the lake, it was hilarious. I saw recently that Hawaii was for sale. Sad to not see them in the sky anymore.
I’ve lived in BC most of my life and I remember seeing these amazing planes fighting fires on several occasions. They always impressed ! I wish I had known more about this backstory and history at the time, it would have made the experience even better!
I live on Vancouver Island and in 2004 there was a fire in the Beaufort Range above our village. One or two Martin Mars from Sproat Lake were involved and would fill up in a nearby bay and then fly over the village gaining altitude to make their drop in sortie after sortie all day long. It was astonishing to watch. We were building a house at the time and would stop and pause each time one of these leviathans passed and we'd try and watch them make their drop shortly after with the spotter planes buzzing around like bees. It wasn't lost on us that we were witnessing something magnificent from another era. The fire, up near Tsable Lake, was extinguished over the course of the day. It was as though a Hayao Miyazaki animation had come to life.
I have seen these planes in action several times, to see them pick up water and take off under full power is something I could never forget. You feel the sound in your whole body ! I recently learned they will be a permanent display at a museum Victoria British Columbia.
I am lucky to be able to see the two remaining Mars water bombers, Hawaii and Philippine, on a daily basis, as I work for Coulson Aviation at the Tanker Base on Sproat Lake, British Columbia. Even though they no longer fly, they are still magnificent aircraft to see, especially up close, where you can really appreciate their immense size. Their military origins and long history in fighting forest fires in B.C. has made them true legends of aviation. It was recently announced, in the local news, that they are up for sale.
Well two years later and your wish is coming true, Hawaii Mars will be making its final flight this Sunday, to the British Columbia Aviation Museum, where it will spend the remainder of its life on display to be remembered, and enjoyed by the future generations!
I was a flight engineer 2001 we were grounded or I should say floating on water during 9-11 this was a pretty cool job being able to walk 400 feet on a wing inspection then go to the tail was another 200 feet you have to remember every where you go to inspect you halve to return to the flight deck, this is a two storie aircraft upper and lower deck, a daily pre flight was about a quarter mile internal and the external was done with a maintenance skiff a pre flight took 2 to 3 hours MJRM was the high lite of my Maintenance career when I hear or listen to anything about aircraft maintenance I just yawn
My father was a fitter in the Australian airforce in ww11. He worked on many flying boat types. I have his photos. I love these aircraft. Excellent video
I made a point of visiting the Mars tankers every time I was driving through Sproat Lake. I even got a tour of Hawaii once. I loved sitting in the cockpit and the old reliable technology of that massive bird. I've enjoyed fishing and watching the planes taking off and landing. Vancouver Island residents do miss seeing them in operations for sure.
@@BrittMac422 there was also a family that retrofitted some PBY Catalinas they planned on chartering. Their story took a crazy turn when they got abducted in the middle east. Definitely worth looking up and reading about.
Yeah they are extremely inefficient at actually fighting fires. There is a reason they have been decommissioned, mostly due to ridiculous cost and inflexibility due to its size and takeoff distance.
I grew up on Vancouver Island and spent much of my summers at Sproat Lake which was the home base of these marvels. Favourite pastime as a young teen would be to take our small boats out to jump the massive wakes these boats would leave when taking off or landing. The were key to the identify of the community as they would do a flyover during local fairs or derbies and were ever present in the skies during summer forest fire seasons. They are remembered fondly.
I saw one of these fly overhead when it was helping fight fires in california about ten years ago. I heard it coming from a long ways away, and nothing else really sounds like it.
Hawaii flew its last flight August 11th 2024 over Vancouver Island from Sprout Lake to Pat Bay to be set up as a museum with an escort of the Snowbirds, it was an amazing sight to see!
I was in Port Alberni sometime between 1997-99 when there was a large fire at a lumber mill. The Martin Mars was put into action and I rushed down near the mill to watch the plane in action. I climbed atop a railway car on a siding and watched as the bomber came down and dropped its load of sea water on the fire. I still remember feeling the spray as it roared past me and went back to Alberni Inlet for another load of seawater. I can hardly wait to see it again at its final resting place near the Victoria International Airport in the near future.
Looks like its in the works again to get the Philippine mars back to the us today we said are last good byes here in port alberni to the hawaii mars as it took its last flight to the bc aviation museum in victoria bc
Hawaii has been retired to the BC aviation museum in Victoria BC. This is where she was originally retrofitted into a water bomber. You can check YT for videos of her final flight that happened Aug 11 2024
I've seen the Martin Mars fighting wildfires in SoCal a couple times in the 2000's. It was impressive to see the giant plane landing in Lake Elsinore to scoop up water.
I was camping near Nelson, BC and head a radial engine startup. I ran down to the water and there was a Mars anchored a couple hundred yards away. Love the sound of those engines.
Look up Kermit Weeks here on RU-vid to get an up close and personal tour of one of the Mars aircraft. He goes through the whole aircraft and it really give a sense of its grand scale!
I love when you do Martin aircraft. My grandmother and aunt worked for Martins during the war. Got some great stories from them, love that you fill in the blanks.
Love this video. One of them flew LOW over my parents house in Black Creek in the early 90’s - and I live about an hours drive away from them currently.
I've seen the Martian Mars up close a few times in their battle with fire. Watched one from drop to pickup could see the whole circuit from our boat. We stayed tight to the shore they scooped in the channel 150feet away I could see the pilots head in window. Watched about 10 cycles. The other time the town I lived in had fire on 2 sides water on one six foot old growth burning like matches. On the second day with dads on roofs putting out embers kids putting out stuff on the ground in came two Martin Mars it's indescribable to express the experience of those monsters flying threw smoke dropping so close you could feel the coolness of the drop. Four hours and fire out. Absolutely nothing ive seen since tops that day for sheer sensory overload. A friend of mine was coming down the Malahat to Victoria when fighting a fire on Bear mountain one went in the smoke and didn't come out. She said it looked like they were, in her words "hot doging". The pieces are still on the mountain side. If you want to experience a Mars just stand on a hyway and get 36 hells angels to ride full throttle straight at you.
Back in 1994-ish, I was visiting Vancouver Island and drove by the seaplane base on the lake and saw on of the Mars aircraft in the orange livery, and they are HUGE. The Spruce Goose is more huge, but to see one out in the wild really give you an appreciation for how large they are. Thank you Dark Skies.
In 1955 or 1956 my father was a career Navy guy, a Chief. He was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I guess that he and my mom decided we were going with him this time as a family. My dad went over first to get us set up in a nice Quonset hut in Pearl City military housing. We followed a month later. As it would happen - we flew to Honolulu on a Navy Martin Mars. I don’t know for sure that it was the Hawaii Mars flying boat. The Mars was a part of MATS and not terribly comfortable. Enlisted personnel in the lower deck, officer dependents on the upper deck. We sat on these fold up benches with canvas seats. Our inflight meal was baloney sandwiches, mustard on white bread. Kids got koolaide. The adults got black coffee. I finally fell asleep after my adrenaline finally settled down. At some point, I was awakened by that endless droning of the engines. The Mars had Wright R-3350-8, 18 cylinder alcohol injected engines. They were befitting called “corn cobs” as the engine cylinders were arranged in two rows of 9 cylinders each. Each engine put out 2800 hp. That’s over 10,000 hp. When I looked out the window I could see the most beautiful orangish glow from those Wright engine exhaust stacks. It was the coolest thing and all these years later I still remember that sight - the glow of the hot Wright R-3350 exhaust stacks. Man, that was something!
One of the most famous planes in B.C.'s history, a Martin Mars water bomber used to carry and drop vast amounts of water on wildfires, is for sale for $5 million. "The opportunity to purchase and preserve a unique part of aviation history is now available for the discerning buyer, or donor," says the listing from the California-based seller, Platinum Fighter Sales.
In the early 70's I was weekending at Yellow Point Lodge (Nanaimo BC) when all of the Lodge guests spent a very sunny Sunday afternoon on the beach while watching a Mars do many, many water pickups a few hundred meters away to quench a nearby forest fire. Always remember that day. The flight deck of the Mars is about the size of a living room!
One of my favorite airplanes! For years the only information I had was a small navy book from pearl during the war. My dad mentioned seeing the first one flying over pearl
Really interesting video about an aircraft I knew nothing about. Surely such a piece of history should be at the top of any aviation museum's list?? I really hope both of these aircraft can be preserved for posterity.
I live in the town the last two are located. I hope they don't go. Being that I live here I have seen them a lot growing up here. Seen them fight fires. Sometimes they almost appear to be moving so slow sometimes that you wonder how they can fly. I think the company that owns them wants to sell them to help improve and increase his current fleet of firefighting planes. One of the ones is painted up just like the old navy colours.
Of all seaplanes, I submit that, BY FAR!, the coolest and most romantic was the Sikorsky S-38, first introduced in 1928, with possibly the lowest fatalities and injuries (most likely because it is primarily an amphibian), and there are still two or three left in pristine flying conditions! ... It was the 'Air Yacht' (though a small one) - a bi-plane that can stay afloat at even 60 miles/hour (you can even open it's sliding windows to take in the sights!), and where the high-heeled would fly off to secluded spots on the ocean, to sweam and even barbeque on its long flat nose! ... (It even appeared in Martin Scorcese's film, The Aviator, with Leonardo DiCaprio.) ... it is the EPITOME of ROMANCE!! ... Lord! Sikorsky HAS to bring it back! (with all the efficiencies and securities of modern technology, of course!)
Hehe I bet your pronunciation of Alameda is how it was originally meant to be said, but we say it with a long E. Regardless it’s so cool to have such a slice of history near where I grew up. I’ve stayed overnight on the USS Hornet, visited the aviation museum there, learned to drive on the old naval base, and I even spend time at the skatepark there with old warships in clear view. One of the best places in the East Bay Area
The MARS were the godfather's of the bombardier CL 215 . They proved that the aquatic water bomber was an amazing fire fighting platform. It's a shame they are left to languish where they are. But the saved MILLIONS of aches of forests and 10"s of thousands of homes and property. It's is an example of the amazing aviation engineering and abilities of Canada back post wwIi. Shame we've lost that here in Canada.
@@wintersbattleofbands1144 They are aware of the sale. The Museum is very small. They are trying to find a way to bring their aircraft home. I'm not sure why you responded as you did. But thank you for responding
Love this channel...Im a. history. buff since a child, esp WWII and the American Civil War. Love it when I see a documentary about something I know little about, and it turns. out to be this interesting. The AMrs that is in Navy colors should deifinately be in Pensacola @ the museum. I visited it in the 90's and found it so good that I went back when vacationing 3 years in a row. If youare a fan of military aviation, its a must see
My absolute pleasure to tour Hawaii Mars on assignment to our So. Cal Fires. Coulson's were really kind. Aircraft is beautiful and amazingly HUGE! Please preserve them somehow.
I worked as a Wildland Fire fighter in BC as an initial Attack firefighter from 95 to 97. Our teams had a number of occasions where the Mars were active on our fires we were working. Fond Memories.
I used to live across the street and just behind the Martin Marietta complex and the Glen L. Martin State Airport. The old sea plane ramp was still at the end of the runway. While the complex across the lagoon was making missiles when I lived down in Middle River, there was a complex at the airport for testing nuclear reactors to power sea planes. I worked on security at the airport in the late 70s and it was fascinating going through the old buildings. Middle River was a neat place back then.
As a child in the late fifties/early sixties I was enthralled with the huge size of the Mars as depicted in Dad's vintage Air News Yearbook. Great to see film of the evolution and history of the two survivors and hear they are being preserved. The USN should preserve one for the East coast at Pensacola, FL. The second could be available at the West coast at either Corpus Christi, TX with the carrier Lexington or San Diego to go with the carrier Midway. Do it with private donations. Let us hope so.
Awesome! I lived in Port Alberni and remember seeing these water bombers flying to and from Sproat Lake. Kermit Weeks has some amazing videos regarding the aircraft.
Just watched the final flight of the Hawaii Mars on Vancouver Island. I've been watching it fight forest fires here in BC for my whole life. It's going to be messed.
Hawaii Mars II will become part of the BC Aviation Museum in Victoria in 2024. She is currently being readied for one final flight from Sproat Lake to Victoria. What will happen to Phillipine Mars is still unknown.
The remaining Mars Martin Water Bomber will be flown from Sproat Lake to Pat Bay Sidney BC on Aug 11, 2024 then moved to the Victoria Airport to go into the BC Aviation Museum.
I believe I saw a couple' of them when camping at Sprout Lake back in the late ,70s or early 80s. I recall they were loud as hell when they started them up.
I have had the honor of seeing both Hawaii and Philippines in action in the mid 90's fighting fires in the Okanagan scooping from Skaha Lake. I was godsmacked I will never forget.
Can you imagine a fleet of Spruce Gooses. It was bigger than Martin flying boat by a long ways. They could have hauled passengers or troops, equipment, freight, had hotel accommodations, etc.
A person could own one of these, Mars Hawaii is for sale for 3,000,000 currently I believe, I always knew these as firefighting aircraft. Interesting to know they originated as military aircraft. Great video.
So many older firebombers I've seen lately flying out of Fresno, Calif, have been retrofitted with turboprop engines. On the Mars, they would save a lot of weight over the piston engines. Maintenance minimal compared to labor intensive piston engines.
I know what you mean, I live by the airport & get to see the military aircraft that I helped to convert to tanker use up at Aero Union in Chico. It's kind of a two-edged sword feeling, on one hand, I love to see them flying, but on the other hand, when they fly, it's due to something highly serious, especially in the days of the mega-drought we're all living in. Fresno's become one of the main tanker bases for the southwest due to it's fairly centralized location, and yes, having those two remaining Martins to use would be nice, alas, due to the lack of a dedicated landing gear, making it virtually impossible to base them both at any airfield, plus the cost of maintenance & scarcity of parts to bear in mind, I'm very afraid that unless one of these uber-wealthy billionaires buy them to keep as air show flyover aircraft, then their days are unfortunately numbered. Mores the pity...
Got to see one in Port of Long Beach once during fire season. LA county was shopping options and went with the smaller Super Scooper instead Watched her take off, Amazing Long taxing in the harbor & finally airborne. One lap around, then north home to 🇨🇦( BC)
Thank you for sharing this video, their longevity is incredible. The B-52’s might have a better record but it’s a mass-produce plane backed by US government. For These to last as long as they did is amazing.
Talked with the daughter of the man who pushed for the purchase of the Mars planes for fire tanker purposes. She loved those planes and I could have listened to her for hours. Amazing planes!!
I remember seeing them back around 1980 when I spent part of a summer working up at Sproat Lake. Nothing I had ever seen before had quite prepared me for them.
In 2008 I want to say, seen one of those big red and white beauties helping defend Northern California (Shasta County) from the aftermath of an off season thunderstorm Everybody loved seeing it fly around and be a shining beacon of hope
the Hawaii Mars has found a new home it took its last fight from Sprout Lake Port Alberni to the Victoria Aviation Museum in Aug of 2024 where it will be on display for many years to come
We used to go for sunday drives out past Pat Bay Airport and one time passed by the wreckage of Carolina Mars. My uncle lived in Port Alberni and we camped at Sproat Lake sometimes. We used to paddle around the Mars' in our inner tubes.