Mars may fight fires in B.C.
 

Just one left? I recall there were several 'stored' at Port Alberni.

Only 2 left in the world

Mars is going to fly for one month: On the front lines with firefighters battling B.C.?s wildfires - The Globe and Mail

Some nice pictures here:

http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...lys-again.html

IIRC, there were only 3 ever built. Seems like one burned down.

edit: Nope, Apparently there were 7 built.

I'd seen spectacular photos of Coulson's two.
I would have loved to have heard and watched them in action.
Any chance of the USN keeping the last one flying?

Nah? Well at least there's a couple of Connies still going to remind us of the sound.


p.s. I've not heard the sound of four RR Tynes.

1 is now fighting fires in BC again. Wish I was closer to it.

Martin Mars water bomber dropped nine loads on fire near Nelson, B.C.

This is a spectacular sight. I saw it close up a couple of years ago when it was picking up from Anderson Lake in BC. The earth shook.
A couple of weeks ago, the Premier of BC was alleged to have said;" Mars water bomber. Why do we want to water bomb Mars?" The bar for Canadian politicians is not very high.!

If we could send her to Mars, BC would be a far better place. Take a fairly large rocket to break her free of this orb's gravitational forces tho...

The Mars is a great old seaplane, but old aircraft don't make good water bombers unless the terrain is flat and the lakes real big.
The CL 415 is far better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz5hW2y8tu8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYHvfYGF_7Y

Do you have any idea how BIG Okanagan lake is or the size of the lakes the Mars would operate out of in British Columbia? We are speaking of miles and - miles.
`

One thing about water bombers is that they have to move base when serious forrest or dry grassland fires occur, so it is much more useful to use an aircraft that can land at small airports or on smaller lakes.
Only the Evergreen 747's and Cal fire dept DC 10 have the range with a big load to be able to operate from larger main bases.
The Mars is good for flying displays or even passenger rides, but it's not of much use as a cost effective water bomber.

The FAA had the common sense to ban the WW2 water bombers some years ago following a few structural failures in flight. Many older aircraft suffer from some degree of corrosion and low flying on windy days in hilly terrain is real tough on the frame and flaps.

Not sure what the forward plan of the Canadian government is, but older airliners like the DC10 and 747 are a lot cheaper than a 30 million dollar 415 and very effective water bombers. Funny clip of the DC 10 in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_njZnMAofwg

Just a counterpoint for those who think BC does not suit Mars. Large lakes are everywhere in BC, Pitt, Harrison, Chilko, Shuswaps, Christina, Francois, Sproat, Tatlayoko, Anderson, Puntzi, Stum, Ahbau, Fraser and many more are all large enough for Mars. As someone above posted the US has DC-10 & 747 for runway ops, however with the massive amount of lakes in BC & Canada (most lakes of any country in the world) create an opportunity that many other regions do not have. All the lakes listed above are less than 200 miles form fires which are or have been burning this year. Some are right beside such lakes in fact. 6200 litres in a 415 vs. 27200 in the mars. The old gal has it's strengths and at over 4X the capacity of a 415, it can accomplish it's mission quite effectively.

Mars was in action on the 2nd at Harrison.