Finding a final resting place
The Marianas Mars crashed in 1961 during firefighting operations in Vancouver Island, and the Caroline Mars was damaged beyond repair by a typhoon the following year.
The last surviving Mars flying boats — the Philippine Mars and the Hawaii Mars — were later acquired by Coulson Aviation in 2007 to “expand its firefighting capabilities,” according to the company.
The Coulson Group said the aircraft underwent several upgrades and renovations to make it a safer and more reliable aerial firefighter, but officials in British Columbia replaced it with newer aircraft, like the firefighting variants of the Lockheed C-130.
But after sitting in storage for half a decade, the Coulson Group decided to retire the Philippine Mars in 2012, donating it to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Florida as a permanent exhibit. Its red-and-white paint scheme from its time as a water bomber was replaced with its original dark blue Navy colors, but the trade deal with the Navy was put on indefinite hold amid the 2016 presidential election.
Last April, Coulson Aviation announced that the Philippine Mars would instead find its final landing at the Pima Air and Space Museum.
As the aircraft’s retirement approached, the Coulson Group offered experiences for aviation enthusiasts to get “up close and personal with their Martin Mars water bombers.”
The program, which had packages ranging from $1,000 to $15,000, featured tours of the planes and the opportunity to observe maintainers working on them. The top-tier experience, which included an opportunity to taxi the plane on the water, sold out in three days.
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