Off Topic: Martin Mars Water Bomber 2008





Sometimes even non-railway stuff is interesting.  In February 2008 there was a forestry supplier convention at the Vancouver Convention Center.  Equipment dealers, suppliers and other companies and individuals associated with the industry descended on the Vancouver waterfront to display their wares.

One of these companies was Coulson Aviation, based in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.  They supply helicopters and aircraft for firefighting and other forestry related work.  One of the coolest things they have in their fleet is the Martin Mars water bomber.  Coulson Aviation bought the last two of these aircraft in 2007, with the Hawaii Mars being the last operational aircraft.  


It has nearly the wingspan of a 747 and is powered by 4 propeller engines.  It sounds like a B-17 when it is throttled up. It is awesome to see and hear in person.  In February 2008 Coulson had several demonstration flights of the plane in Vancouver harbour.  Large crowds turned out to see it; since I worked downtown it was a no brainer to go see the demonstration.  Seeing 27,000 liters of water dropped at once is something to behold.

Unfortunately the Hawaii Mars hasn't been used since 2015, and it is looking like it will not be operating anytime soon.  The BC Forestry Service isn't interested in using it in spite of the massive number of fires this year in BC.  At least I had a chance to see it. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something a little closer to home (literally) - Canadian Pacific's Arbutus Spur

Image
From early 1998 through 2002 I lived near the Granville Island area of Vancouver.  Vestiges of the former industrial nature of the area still survive the encroaching condominiums, townhouses and tourist traps in the area.  The condo building that I lived in was built on the site of an old sawmill.  One benefit of this location was that I was literally 2 blocks from the Molson brewery which was served by CP several times per week.  As well the Downtown Historic Railway operated former BC Electric interurban cars during the summer from a station across the street from my apartment. My apartment was just behind the CIBC sign, although it hadn't been built yet when this photo of BCH switching Granville Island was taken in 1974.  The tracks in the foreground are still there as a reminder of the historic industrial nature of what is now a prime tourist destination BC Hydro 904 has just come off the False Creek Bridge and is likely heading to the BN/CN interchange on the east side of Main
Read more

Flin Flon Derailment on the Hudson Bay Railway - April 2000

Image
A work trip took me to northern Manitoba in April - May 2000.  At this time the gold mining industry was going through a rough patch, with depressed prices and many companies cutting staff and shutting down mining operations.  The project I was running at the time had been shut down and I was at loose ends.   My boss "strongly suggested" that I get out of the office for an extended period as having someone not actively working on a project was likely to get unwelcome attention from the company in the form of a pink slip.  So I quickly came up with a trip to review gold projects in the cheapest way possible in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.  There was a mining conference in Thunder Bay and I knew people in Flin Flon and Thompson that I could couch surf with.  I arranged a few mine tours and meetings with several companies and prospectors to review their gold projects.   Overall I think I budgeted around $2000 for the trip including car rental, gas, airfare and food.  The f
Read more

Ferrominera Orinoco Venezuelan Iron Ore

Image
In the mid 1990's Venezuela was a top destination for gold exploration and I worked in the El Callao region of Estado Bolivar on and off from 1994 until 1999 when I last visited the country.  Generally I was busy crashing around the jungle trying to avoid snakes, killer bees and tropical diseases.   The airport in Ciudad Guyana (we called it Puerto Ordaz) was our flight destination after first flying from Miami to Caracas and then onto Puerto Ordaz, generally flying on a wing and a prayer with Aeropostale (it was an airline before it was a clothing line) or one of the other more dodgy airlines.   The more dangerous part of the trip was from Puerto Ordaz to Guasipati and El Callao where our housing and work sites were.  Venezuela at the time was (and likely still is) where old cars went to die.  It was amazing to see the ancient gas guzzlers still running there (fuel was around $0.05 per liter at the time, heavily subsidized by the government), seemingly held together by wire, twine
Read more