Flexibility Is Key To Airplane's Staying Power

By Kathryn B. Creedy

Seventy years of history is anchored at the AirVenture Seaplane Base with the debut of the Mighty Martin Mars at this year’s show. Owned by Coulson Flying Tankers, the Hawaii Mars, is, perhaps, the most flexible aircraft to serve the fire service, according to Glenn Pley, who has counted flight engineer among his many duties during his tenure with the Mars program.

“For turn-around times, this aircraft cannot be beat, especially when fighting fires close to the water,” he told ANN, with the two six-inch diameter probes in 30 seconds. That’s a 60-ton load," Pley said. "That’s compared with a Hercules, which takes 30 minutes to load plus the time flying to and from the airport. The Mars can drop water every 15 minutes.”

Touring Aero-News Network through the venerable aircraft, Pley noted the aircraft fought fires in the 2015 season doing about 70 hours of service across the British Columbia province near its base on Sproat Lake at Port Alberni, British Columbia.

However, as with most veteran aircraft, it is getting harder to operate because of the lack of parts and the fact it is down to its last spare when it comes to the props for the four-engined flying boat.

The Mars carries a crew of four including the captain, first officer and two flight engineers working as a team. The most demanding part of crew management is during water pick up, said the company, with the captain executing a typical landing, allowing the speed to drop to about 70 knots. The flight engineer then takes control of the engine power selecting the scoops down position.

“The ram pressure for injecting the water into the tanks is such that the aircraft is taking on water at a rate in excess of a ton per second,” said the company answering the most frequently asked question it gets. “To account for this added weight, the flight engineer must advance the throttles to maintain a skimming speed of 60-70 knots to ensure the aircraft remains on the step. Pickup time is, on average, 25 seconds. When the tanks are full, the Captain will have the scoops raised, call for takeoff power from the flight engineer and carry out a normal loaded takeoff. Once airborne, the foam concentrate is injected into the water load (normally, 30 US gallons of concentrate into the 7,200 US gallon water load) where it is dispersed and remains inert until the load is dropped. Once dropped, the tumbling action causes expansion, which converts the water load into a foam load. This process is repeated for each drop. In other words, this team work is carried out, on average, every 15 minutes per aircraft.”

Reminiscent of the old Pan Am Clipper flying boats that plied the Pacific in the heyday of pre-war passenger service between San Francisco and the Philippines, the Martin Mars comes by its similarity honestly, since it was built by the same Martin Company. In fact, Pley indicated when he approached the aircraft yesterday on a humid, misty Sunday morning that is exactly the feeling he got.

Other Mars aircraft served in World War II and The Martin Mars served as a Naval troop carrier across the Pacific to Hawaii, and carrying casualties back to the US from Hawaii.

In fact, as Aero-News Network awaited its turn on board, Clifford Graveen walked through the Seaplane Village to the lakeside dock. He eyed the old bird gently rocking across the waters longingly and for good reason. Graveen, approaching 90, served as an electrician aboard the Mars during his Navy career and said the last time he’d seen such an aircraft in person was when he left the Navy in 1945.

The Hawaii Mars on display at the seaplane base missed the war, however, having been completed in 1946, the last of only seven built. It was converted to a water bomber in 1960. The aircraft service the US Navy between 1945 and 1958. In 2007, Coulson purchased the Hawaii Mars and its sister ship, the Philippine Mars, expanding its firefighting capabilities with the world’s largest water bombers. Since then, the company upgraded the aircraft introducing higher safety standards designed for today’s fire fighting. Upgrades also included an EFIS Glass Cockpit and the ability to stream live data from certain key on-board, indication systems. Other forms of data that are available from the aircraft in real time are Flight Tracking, Load Data measuring, Aircraft Performance statistics, Atmospheric Condition at Drop readings, and Accurate Drop Location reporting.

Coulson is offering twice daily tours Monday through Sunday and recommends taking the shuttle bus to the Seaplane base. Tickets are available for purchase at the EAA Member Center and the Seaplane Base.

(Staff images)

FMI: www.martinmars.com