I had a very special opportunity to fly up to Canada and see the in’s and outs of the incredible Martin Mars Aircraft at Coulson aviation. Thank you to Rob Frolic for all your time, expertise and help with filming. You made this experience incredible.
Here are some specifications for the Martin JRM Mars, a flying boat aircraft used by the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1956:
Size: Wingspan of 200 feet, length of 36 meters
Speed: Maximum speed of 221 mph, cruise speed of 190 mph
Range: 4,900 miles
Service ceiling: 14,600 feet
Fuel consumption: 420 gallons per hour during cruise, 780 gallons per hour during operations
Water capacity: 7,200 gallons
Drop height: 150 to 200 feet
Area covered per drop: 3 to 4 acres
Engines: Four R-3350 engines, each generating 2,300 horsepower
Hull: The size of a 15-room house.
Here is some history on this incredible airplane.
The story of the Martin Mars flying boats started in 1938, when the United States Navy placed an order to the Martin Aircraft Company for a large maritime patrol bomber. The prototype first flew on July 3, 1942. The Navy was pleased with the prototype, and decided to order twenty production models, designated JRM‑1. However, there was no longer a need for a large patrol bomber in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, and so these twenty Mars flying boats were to be made in a cargo configuration. The first JRM‑1 was delivered on July 27, 1945, dubbed Hawaii Mars. However, with the war in the Pacific ending only two months later, the Navy downsized their order from twenty aircraft to only five more. These followed the Pacific island naming convention, and were christened the Philippine Mars, Marianas Mars, Marshall Mars, Hawaii Mars II (the first Hawaii Mars had sunk in Chesapeake Bay and was then scrapped), and Caroline Mars, which was designated JRM-2, with more powerful engines and larger propellers. The Marses were then used to ferry cargo from the mainland US to Hawaii and other Pacific islands. With their 200 foot wingspan, these were the largest flying boats of the time, capable of carrying up to 133 passengers, eighty-four stretchers and twenty-five passengers, or 32,000 thousand pounds of cargo. Throughout their service lifespan, the three oldest Marses logged between 18,000 and 20,000 flight hours each, carrying a total of a quarter of a million passengers and many tons of freight over the Pacific. One Mars set a record of 68,327 pounds of cargo carried. Stationed at NAS Alameda, they eventually just ferried cargo between San Francisco and Honolulu until their retirement in 1956. During this time, Marshall Mars had burnt down and sunk off of Diamond Head, Honolulu due to an engine malfunction. The four remaining aircraft were beached at NAS Alameda and awaited scrapping.
In the 1950s, four logging companies in British Columbia (BC), Canada formed Forest Industries Flying Tankers (FIFT) and purchased the four surviving Mars airframes before they were scrapped for a total of $100,000, as well as thirty-five extra engines and crates of new spare parts for $21,410. These were then stripped of all unnecessary weight and converted into waterbombers. Operating out of a new base on Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, BC, they served aerial firefighting duties for the four member companies of FIFT. Marianas Mars was lost in 1961 when it crashed on a firefighting run and Caroline Mars was damaged beyond repair in 1962 due to a storm.
The Marses proved to be true workhorses of aerial firefighting, capable of dropping 7,200 (US) gallons of water over up to four acres of land. The tankers are also capable of dropping firefighting foam, which is mixed from concentrate stored inside the aircraft while it scoops up water from the two underbelly-mounted probes. These probes are capable of taking in almost a ton of water per second as the Mars skims a lake at exactly seventy knots, filling the tanks in approximately twenty-five seconds. With a crew of four, firefighting operations in the Mars were perfectly coordinated operations.
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Excellent video. What happened to the beaching gear? Will it be taken to the Arizona museum?
I had the opportunity to see the Mars's when a group of Vancouver Island foresters visited the Sproat Lake site in the late 70's. We got to go inside one and I could actually stand up inside the wing. We were treated to a display of water bombing when one dropped it's entire load directly above the group standing on the ramp. Caught everyone off guard. Definitely the end of an era.
Oh yea I love this stuff! How do you get so much access im jealous! Keep them coming!
Thank you Nate great share
ANY word on WHEN they expect to fly it to the US???
I drove passed the Hawaii Mars twice today . such an awesome airplane
It's such an amazing old plane, can't get enough of them
12,000 gallons? Gulp~! A row of five gallon cans of oil for the engines. 10,000 total horsepower. Is $25,000 per operating hour even close? Thanks Nate for the fascinating trip through the inside.
I am a retired AC Mechanic, and I have been on and around a lot of really cool airplanes, but, that was special! Thanks for taking us along!
Sad part is she’ll be partially disassembled upon arrival in AZ, will land on lake Roosevelt and then be trucked to PIMA. Unlikely to ever fly again.
I grew up close to the Hawaii and Philippine Mars on Sproat Lake all my life. I felt so lucky to live and experience the 2 mighty Mars in action doing countless takeoffs, landings, water drops and fighting forest fires close by for all these years. It will be a sad day when old Philly leaves our area forever on her final mission to Pima Air Museum in Arizona US.
A little bit more on the background of Forrest practises. When the Mars was owned by the Forrest companies, the used it to put Forrest fires out. While that sounds good, it allowed a pestilence called the Mountain Pine Beetle to spread across the province and is now in Alberta. It was only Forrest fires that contained them. The pine beetle eventually kills the trees and turns the wood a bluish tinge, making it unusable for all lumber purposes.
Coulson bought the Mars operation, then immediately quadrupled what it was charging the province, and the province refused to pay. So the mars aircraft have been relatively unused since then.
Everyone is happy they are both going to museums.
another nice video THANKS rare viewing content
send a notice out to youtube chanel pilot teacher of this video thanks
Why did the National Museum of Naval Aviation not get one of these last two? I was just there and I know they probably don't have the hangar space, they'd have to build a new one. But I wonder if there was some other reason.
Man people have the coolest jobs.
The idea of storage/museum status for a plan this size makes Pima 1 of the best areas to do this. The dry desert climate will be the best for out side storage.
I wonder if this was built by Martin Marietta in Middle River,
Maryland. My dad worked there for many years.
Wait, there removing the FE panel??!!
We will miss the sound and the way the house would shake as they flew over.
Godspeed, Phillipine Mars and crew. May you safely reach your final destination and be kept safe for all to remember.
Love, Vancouver Island
She is leaving tomorrow (Dec 11th) for San Francisco from Sproat Lake, Port Alberni, British Columbia