133 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Is that what the placards read now, when you view the exhibits at the museum?

[LJ]

The long-term plan is to build a massive hangar to house Hawaii Martin Mars and other vintage firefighting aircraft, including the museum’s Corvair 580 and Douglas A26 Invader.

 

Think that should read Convair 580.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber could be ready to start moving overland from Patricia Bay to the B.C. Aviation Museum as early as Wednesday.

 

Nickel Brothers Moving was fitting girders under the massive plane on Tuesday and lifting it onto a swivelling trailer in preparation for the 3.2-kilometre journey, said museum president Steve Nichol.

 

He said the Victoria Airport Authority has been “unbelievably co-operative in allowing us to move the plane.”

 

The movers will be allowed to bypass runways in getting the plane to the museum, where it will be a feature display, Nichol said.

 

Nichol said the timing of the move depends on several factors involved with loading and securing the plane at Patricia Bay. It’s expected to take several hours to move the massive airplane with a truck and specialized trailer.

 

No specific time was given as to when the move will start.

 

The Hawaii Martin Mars is 185 feet long with a 200-foot wingspan and weighs about 76,000 pounds. The cockpit is 38 feet off the ground.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...dnesday-9377057

[LJ]

The roar of the plane’s massive 10,000-horsepower engines will be hard to miss. But the Martin Mars can also be tracked on Flightradar24.com using the aircraft registration code CFLYL.

 

The engines are actually 2300-3000 horsepower, total they might equal 10,000.

[RPPB]

Nickel Bros is live streaming the move now on Facebook.

[Victoria Watcher]

Martin Mars water bomber arrives at new home after 1 km/h trip

The retired giant water bomber was slowly driven on a giant trailer to the B.C. Aviation Museum from Patricia Bay on Wednesday night.

 

https://www.timescol...mh-trip-9383480

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 August 2024 - 11:03 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The B.C. Aviation Museum officially welcomed its star attraction on Friday, cutting a ribbon and popping some champagne to honour the massive Martin Mars water bomber and the hundreds of people involved in bringing the historic plane to its new forever home.

Tourism Minister Lana Popham cut the ribbon during the event at the museum at Victoria International Airport and dozens of the invited guests were able to board the Martin Mars and view its cockpit and some of the plane’s inner workings.

Air Canada donated a stairwell to enable access for the visitors.


https://www.timescol...he-move-9554099

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 September 2024 - 04:59 AM.

[Nparker]

A lovely event, tainted by the involvement of an NDP cabinet member.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Philippine Mars has left the Alberni Valley for what may be the last time, but the aircraft didn’t get very far, eventually landing near Vancouver Island.

 

For a second time, the iconic plane couldn’t complete its mission, which was getting to a museum in Arizona. It was going to go to San Francisco on Sunday.

 

https://cheknews.ca/...sunday-1229292/

 

 

The company says it landed due to an unknown issue on the number four engine. How long the plane will stay on Pat Bay, or where it will go next, is unknown as mechanics still need to assess what exactly is wrong.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 December 2024 - 08:50 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

A blown cylinder was determined to have caused a problem with one of the Philippine Mars aircraft’s engines that forced its flight to an American museum to be aborted on Sunday. 

 

The huge plane was flying between Victoria and Seattle, en route to its new home at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, when it had to turn around and land in Patricia Bay for repairs. 

 

The cylinder issue is common with the Second World War-vintage Martin Mars planes, said Wayne Coulson, chief executive of Port Alberni-based plane owner Coulson Aviation. 

 

“It’s nothing major that we’re seeing in the motor right now.” 

 

He said a test flight could be done Wednesday, to determine when the large aircraft can take off again for Arizona. 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...trouble-9964902

 

 

 

This is where it is going, BTW, looks like a cool place:

 

https://pimaair.org/

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 December 2024 - 08:41 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

There is an air force base just north of the musuem, but it's on the other side of a 6-lane highway you can see at the top of the photo.

 

Big rolling gate in the fence.  Looks like an exciting trip across that highway to get a plane to the museum:

 

https://www.google.c...KXMDSoASAFQAw==

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 December 2024 - 08:49 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Davis-Monthan & AMARG's Role as the Largest Military Aircraft Boneyard

 

https://www.airplane...ne-boneyard.htm

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 December 2024 - 08:51 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Philippine Martin Mars water bomber is limping back to its home base for a major engine refit, its trip to an aviation museum in Arizona on hold until later this month.

 

The hulking aircraft took off from Sproat Lake near Port Alberni three weeks ago, headed to San Francisco and then San Diego, with an inland leg to an undisclosed desert lake, before reaching its new home at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

 

But it had to make an emergency landing in Patricia Bay on Dec. 15, and was moored there over Christmas and into the new year amid a series of storms, as Coulson Aviation determined its next move.

 

On Monday, the Philippine Mars was towed from Patricia Bay to Cowichan Bay, off Hecate Park. The company said Tuesday it plans to swap in an engine from its sister plane, the Hawaii Mars, now resting as a static display outside the B.C. Aviation Museum near Sidney.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...-refit-10045181

[Victoria Watcher]

Last August, the aircraft's stablemate Hawaii Mars made the short hop from Port Alberni to Victoria where it's now on permanent display at the B.C. Aviation Museum. In the meantime, a series of engine issues on Philippine Mars ultimately led to the installation of the four airworthy Wright R3350 18-cylinder engines from Hawaii Mars. The four Curtiss Electric propellers were also taken from Hawaii Mars. The Mars will leave San Francisco Tuesday for San Diego where public events and media flights are planned. The massive flying boat, one of seven built as troop and materiel transports for the Navy, will then head to an undisclosed lake in Arizona where it will be disassembled and trucked to Tucson.

 

https://www.avweb.co...r-final-flight/