‘Months ahead of schedule’: Martin Mars bomber to arrive at final resting place early

The Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber will be enshrined in the BC Aviation Museum sooner than expected.

In late March, Coulson Aviation announced that it would be donating the iconic part of British Columbia’s aviation history to the museum in Victoria with an expected arrival date of later this fall.

Now, the company says the bomber’s arrival in the capital is “several months ahead of schedule” and it’s tentatively expected to land in Victoria in August.

“Our Mars maintenance and flight crews have been working diligently to prepare the aircraft for its final flight,” said Britt Coulson, president and COO of Coulson Aviation.

“Various factors continue to impact the schedule, making it difficult to establish a precise completion and delivery date. However, we are pleased to announce that we have surpassed its original expected fall arrival date.”

Once all the necessary maintenance, inspections and government approvals are complete, the Martin Mars bomber will take off from Sproat Lake in Port Alberni and land at Patricia Bay in the Saanich Inlet, right beside Victoria International Airport (YYJ).

Upon arrival, the plane will be de-watered before it's carefully transported across YYJ, through what Coulson calls a “carefully orchestrated set of procedures,” to the museum.

“We are grateful to Coulson Aviation and thrilled to offer a home for the largest aircraft on display on Vancouver Island,” said Richard Mosdell, project lead on the museum’s Save the Mars Team.

“Once the aircraft is settled in the museum’s BC Wildfire Aviation Exhibit, the BC Aviation Museum plans to offer a unique open format that allows visitors to experience the Hawaii Mars up close and personal, including the opportunity to sit in the four-storey cockpit.”

The Province has provided $250,000 in funding to the museum to establish its new BC Wildfire Aviation Exhibit around the Martin Mars bomber.

The Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber was last deployed during the summer of 2015 to fight wildfires in BC, California, Mexico and Alberta.

Now just one of two of its kind in existence, the behemoth of a tanker provided five decades of service to BC after being converted in 1958.

Prior to being a wildfire-fighting plane in BC, it was a transport carrier for the United States Navy and served as the largest air ambulance during the Korean War.