Canada has a long history of aerial firefighting and the BC Aviation Museum has a row of planes that have a firefighting history. They are lined up outside the hangar and now include the museum’s most recent addition with the Martin Mars that Coulson donated heading the line. There is an S-2 although the example here is not one that was converted for firefighting. However, it does straddle the Canadian military element of the collection and the firefighting role. Conair has extensive firefighting activities and there are two of their planes on display. An A-26 Invader is there in Conair colours. It was retired quite a while back. Next to it is a more recent acquisition. A Convair CV-580 with a large belly tank modification is an example of the more recent types used in the role. I wonder over time whether something like a Q400 or a BAe 146 will join the collection. Maybe some of the Trackers at Abbotsford could be brought across.
The retirement of the Martin Mars firefighting aircraft of Coulson took place about eight years ago and the two remaining aircraft have been in storage at Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island ever since. I have previously swung by when en route to Tofino to take a look at them but I had never seen them in the water. Recently it was announced that they were both moving to their final resting places. Hawaii Mars was to go to the British Columbia Aviation Museum in Victoria with Philippine Mars heading to Pima. The flight of Hawaii Mars was to include a bunch of flybys at significant locations in the area before ending up at Victoria.
This got a ton of attention in the aviation world, but it was just as big a deal for the local population. It was interesting to discover just how important these planes were to the people in the area as everyone I met was interested in them and had something to say about them. A bunch of us decided to head up the weekend that the move was supposed to take place. The original plan was to go on the Saturday which had been suggested as the move date. As things got closer, it became clear the move would be on the Sunday instead.
In the week before, the plane had been out on the lake doing taxi trials and then getting some flying time in. It became apparent that another flight would probably occur on the Saturday for some photo work. We had settled on a plan to head to Sproat Lake and rent a boat to go and see it in the water. The potential for some flying was a nice bonus.
When we rented the boat, the guy at the rental facility suggested to us that we should check out the flying boat while we were there. We explained that was the only reason we were there at all! It wasn’t far from the dock to Hawaii Mars at its mooring buoy. We were not the only ones interested. The plane was surrounded by boats, kayaks, paddle boarders and even some people swimming up to it from whatever they had come up on. As we worked our way around the plane to get images, it was a constant effort to be aware of who else was nearby and coming in or out of the shot. Some boats were going under the wings which took them perilously close to the props but, thankfully, nothing went wrong. We were still hoping for a flight, of course, but more to come on that.
Canada has a long history of aerial firefighting and the BC Aviation Museum has a row of planes that have a firefighting history. They are lined up outside the hangar and now include the museum’s most recent addition with the Martin Mars that Coulson donated heading the line. There is an S-2 although the example here is not one that was converted for firefighting. However, it does straddle the Canadian military element of the collection and the firefighting role.
Conair has extensive firefighting activities and there are two of their planes on display. An A-26 Invader is there in Conair colours. It was retired quite a while back. Next to it is a more recent acquisition. A Convair CV-580 with a large belly tank modification is an example of the more recent types used in the role. I wonder over time whether something like a Q400 or a BAe 146 will join the collection. Maybe some of the Trackers at Abbotsford could be brought across.
