Friday, February 21, 2025

Coulson Aviation Retired the Phillippine Mars

 

Direct link to video from 12NewsAz on YouTube

The JRM Mars aircraft or flying boats were built in the early 1940s with delivery of the First Martin Mars in 1945. I believe that only seven were built. 

In 2007 Coulson Aviation bought two JRM-1 Mars aircraft, The Hawaii Mars iI and the Philippine Mars. These aircraft or flying boats were used for aerial wildland firefighting. The Hawaii Mars II saw its last stint fighting wildfires in 2015, when there were no buyers the Hawaii Mars II was retired to the British Columbia Aviation Museum a few months ago. The Philippine Mars required some maintenance overhauls before it could be retired to the Pima Air and Space Museum. The Aviationist has a nice article on the Philippine Mars and the other Martin Mars flying boats, go here to read this article (I hope this link works for you, my apologies if it does not.)


Direct link to video from Tobyn Burton Aviation Videos on YouTube


Direct link to video from AirRailImages on YouTube


As you can see from the videos that I have embedded above, the Philippine Mars took off from Sprout Lake in British Columbus on February 9th.

She arrived at Lake Pleasant Arizona on February 11th.

The Philippine Mars was disassembled for transport to the Pima Air and Space Museum where it will be assembled before going on display at the museum go here for more information.

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