Thousands gathered at Patricia Bay Park on Vancouver Island north of Victoria on Sunday to witness the final landing of the historic Hawaii Martin Mars, a legendary aircraft that fought wildfires in B.C. for more than 50 years.
The massive aircraft, with a capacity to carry more than 27,000 litres of water, departed from its longtime base at Sproat Lake in Port Alberni and landed in Saanich Inlet, before heading to its new home at the B.C. Aviation Museum.
Nine Canadian Forces Snowbirds jets accompanied the water bomber on its last journey, passing over a number of communities en route to its final destination.
The Snowbirds bid farewell to the well known aircraft with a non-aerobatic display, drawing cheers from onlookers below.
“It’s kind of sad that it’s the end of the story,” said Peter Killin, a longtime pilot who flew the Hawaii Martin Mars for the last time, along with Harbour Air’s Rick Matthews, on Sunday.
Killin, who has logged more than 1,000 hours of flying time with the water bomber, said he was introduced to the aircraft in 2000 by Matthews and was then hired a year later to pilot the Mars and help fight forest fires.
“It’s a new chapter coming [for the aircraft] … it’s going to be good, people will get to see it.” he added.
Preserving history for future
Earlier this year, Coulson Aviation, the company that purchased the Hawaii Martin Mars in 2007, announced it is donating the aircraft to the B.C. Aviation Museum, calling it a “grand ending to a great history.”
“It’s bittersweet to say goodbye,” Wayne Coulson, CEO of Coulson Aviation told CBC News.
Richard Mosdell from the B.C. Aviation Museum speaks about the legacy of the plane, which was first brought to B.C. in the 1950s to fight wildfires. It was last used in 2015.
The water bomber will become the centrepiece of a new wildfire exhibition at the B.C. Aviation Museum in North Saanich starting Sept. 28.
Steve Nichol, president of the museum, said it will be “the jewel in the crown” of the museum’s firefighting display.
“This is a once in a lifetime event,” he said. “We’re going to have it open every day for the public, just to see what it was like to be inside the Martian Mars. I think people will be fascinated by it.”
The province says it has provided $250,000 to protect and preserve the aircraft as part of the exhibition.
Richard Mosdell, who led the “Save the Mars” project for the museum, said he still remembers the deep rumble of the aircraft echoing through the valleys as it soared overhead, battling forest fires — “that deep, throaty old piston engine sound that you really felt in your chest,” he said during an interview with CBC’s On The Coast.
He says the aircraft’s history is rich and varied and should be preserved for future generations to observe and appreciate.
‘A true aviation icon’
The Hawaii Mars was one of six prototypes produced by the U.S. navy in the 1940s for large-scale transport between the West Coast and Hawaii. But when aviation technology progressed, the planes were retired and put up for auction.
According to the province, the Mars was later converted to serve as the largest air ambulance during the Korean War, capable of carrying more than 120 soldiers and medical personnel in one trip.
In 1958, B.C.’s forest industry purchased four Mars and repurposed them into wildfire-fighting machines.
“It just has a grand history and it is a true aviation icon,” Coulson said.
Over its operational life, the water bomber dropped about 190 million litres of water on wildfires, a feat Coulson claims makes it the most effective firefighting aircraft in history.
The aviation company retired the water bomber in 2015, and it has since remained at the company’s home base on Sproat Lake in Port Alberni.
Coulson says the evolution of aviation and firefighting technology led to the planes’ demise.
“[But] there will never be a better firefighting aircraft, no matter what anybody says,” he said.