Is This The Last Mars Waterbomber To Leave Sproat Lake? Philippine Mars Leaves Port Alberni (again) скачать в хорошем качестве

Is This The Last Mars Waterbomber To Leave Sproat Lake? Philippine Mars Leaves Port Alberni (again)

Today I had the privilege of witnessing the sound of a Martin Mars flying boat starting its engine on Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni on what will likely be the last occasion. I pulled the information for the narrative from Wikipedia so I apologize in advance to all the serios aviation guys who are going to pick holes in it and have arguments in the comments. I just wanted something to put over the shots, really; The Philippine Mars is the last flight-worthy example of the Martin JRM Mars flying boat. Originally commissioned by the US Navy for ocean patrol duty the planes entered service as long range transports the first flew on June 23, 1942. After their military service ended in 1956 four of the remaining aircraft were sold for scrap but were instead purchased in 1959 and converted to firefighting waterbombers. The Marianas Mars was lost, along with its crew when it crashed near Northwest Bay during firefighting operations in 1961. The Caroline Mars was damage beyond repair by Typhoon Freda in 1962 The Hawaii Mars was retired from duty in 2016 and relocated in August of 2024 to Victoria, BC to become the crown jewel of the British Columbia Aviation Museum. Meanwhile the Philippine Mars was repainted in its original US Navy colours in order to be delivered to a US. On Decmeber 11th, 2024 it took off for the first leg of the journey but encountered engine trouble shortly after takeoff and returned to Sproat Lake for further maintenance. This morning we're hoping they can get all the way The 4 Wright R3350 18 cylinder engines each generate 2500hp driving the Mars to a maximum speed of 356 kph and consuming up to 3000 liters of fuel per hour during firefighting operations when it could be carrying as much as 27 000 liters of water From our location on the shore we were able to watch the boarding of the pilots, one of whom used to fly with the friends I had with me that day. I was also able to chat with the longest serving Mars pilot John who had flow 1000s of flight over 39 years in the aircraft. The Mars then started the engines, circled nearby to warm them up and taxied to another arm of the lake for takeoff. After some uncertainty the fog allowed them to take off but alas another engine issue struck over Washington State and the Mars limped her back to Victoria to land in Pat Bay where it remains at the time of this video. Possibly parts or an entire engine will be transplanted from the Hawaii Mars and the Philippine Mars will continue it's journey from there. Unless there is a peculiar logistical reason to bring it back to base it's unlikely that Alberni Valley will ever here the 4 engines of a Martin Mars, again. All footage shot by me except the forest fire clip which is used under license through MotionArray and the historical stills which are public domain.