I was looking for the Martin Mars water bombers (flying tankers) on Sproat Lake, and much to my dismay, was suckered by the sign above – it appeared to be indicating that the Fish and Duck Pub was the home of the huge air planes.
Nope. It is not… don’t be fooled by the sign.
Coulson Flying Tankers is located on Cherry Creek Road, next to the entrance to Sproat Lake Provincial Park, not on or off Faber Point Road.
You can only get glimpses of these beautiful airplanes, which is terribly sad as they are powerful fire fighting tools that may fade from memory on Vancouver Island. The Martin JRM Mars was originally designed and built in limited numbers for the U.S. Navy during the World War II era. It was the largest Allied flying boat to enter production, although only seven were built.
The Philippine Mars was repainted in it’s original blue for a pending trade to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. The red Hawaii Mars is operational and sadly is going to be part of the British Columbia forest fire defence team.
The Hawaii Mars has an EFIS Glass Cockpit and the ability to stream live data including Flight Tracking, Load Data measuring, Aircraft Performance statistics, Atmospheric Condition at Drop readings, and Drop Location reporting.
- Crew: four (with accommodations for a second relief crew)
- Capacity: 133 troops, or 84 litter patients and 25 attendants
- Payload: 15,000 kg of cargo
- Length: 35.74 m
- Wingspan: 60.96 m
- Height: 11.71 m
- Wing area: 342.4 m²
- Empty weight: 34,279 kg
- Loaded weight: 40,820 kg
- Water Capacity: 27,276 litres
- Max. takeoff weight: 74,800 kg
- Power plant: 4 × Wright R-3350-24WA Duplex Cyclone 18-cylinder radial engines, 2,500 hp (1,900 kW) each
- Maximum speed: 192 knots
- Cruise speed: 165 knots
- Range: 4,300 nautical miles
- Service ceiling: 4,450 m