Giantic PBY Mariner Derivative Listed at Warbird Broker

A rare, 1-of-1 vintage warbird is up for grabs, a 1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars flying boat.

The last remaining airworthy example of a 5-plane production run has been listed for sale at warbird broker Platinum Fighter Sales. 

Flying boats are a rare breed, with many manufactured through WWII only to see nearly immediate extinction at the hands of their quicker, more efficient jet replacements. Early airlines found the combination of unlimited oceanic runway space and coastal travel a valuable combination, but they quickly found the limits of passenger capacity and cargo capability. In the early years of the war, the Martin Company obtained a contract with the US Navy for the largest flying boat to ever enter production, building on their stalwart PBM Mariner patrol bomber to create a long-range, high-capacity transport.

The JRM-3 Mars had barely begun production when the Navy scaled its order of 20 down to only the 5 then in production.

The aircraft saw just over a decade of service with the Navy before being sold to a Canadian fire fighting company, Forest Industries Flying Tankers. In their service, the remaining aircraft were converted into water bombers, leveraging their prodigious carrying capacity and water landing capability to drop 7,200 gallons of water over 4 acres with each pass. After a lifetime of service, most of its brethren have been whittled away by attrition to leave only 2 JRM-3s remaining. 

The sale aircraft, Hawaii Mars II, is the only flying example left on earth. The price for such rarity?

A cool $5,000,000. Without a thriving market of secondhand, gigantic, flying boats, it remains to be seen how realistic an offer it is, but it's quite unlikely a similar aircraft will ever be built again. The maximum takeoff weight of the quad-engined aircraft is 165,000 lbs, with a wingspan of 200 ft, and a height of 48 ft on land. The Mars has been refined and revised with a much more modern flight deck than any other of its type, having some smaller glass panels and avionics installed in recent years. The plane has been painted in prior owner Coulson Flying Tankers livery, a red on white, 2-tone affair. Its 4 2,400 hp Curtiss Wright R-3350-24WA engines can take the Mars to 192 knots at full speed, with a range of 4,300 nm.

Of course, the chance of buyers using it as a workhorse may be much smaller than turning into an airshow favorite. 

FMI: www.platinumfighters.com