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Post by queenofcowichan on Oct 23, 2007 17:07:22 GMT -8
At 5:20pm This afternoon I recieved a call on my cell Phone from my mother letting me know that one of the Martin Mars waterbomber is a Nanoose Bay apparently it is being sent down to California to help with the Forest Fires. Sure enough I boarded the 5:24 pm #90 Transit bus from Woodgrove Mall to Parksville and as we here passing the Billboards on the Highway the Massive waterbomber passed overhead. Closer look at the tail tells me it is the Hawaii Mars. (The one with the Red tail). It circled Nanoose Bay and as we passed the Rest stop overlooking the Navy Base the waterbomber as making a approach from the east eaither going to land or pratice a scoop up. I cant tell you how much I love to see these massive aircraft fly, Its so AWESOME!  It may be overnighting in Nanoose Bay before heading south in the Morning. |
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Nick
Voyager 
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,080 
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Post by Nick on Oct 23, 2007 17:13:29 GMT -8
I guess timberwest figures their done with them for the year.
You are absolutely correct, they are amazing pieces of machinery. The largest waterbombers in the world!! It is amazing to see them dump their load and rise up in the air as their total weight plummets.
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Post by Scott on Oct 23, 2007 17:24:23 GMT -8
Yes, it's a good thing they are going. I was thinking that this might happen yesterday when I heard about how bad the fires are down in California. And it is really bad. Hopefully the bomber can make some kind of difference.
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Post by queenofcowichan on Oct 23, 2007 17:33:11 GMT -8
They are the largest Sea Planes to ever have flown OPPERATIONLY. Only Howard Huges Spruce Goose was larger but it only flown once.
In terms of Waterbombers, I am aware of a DC 10 that has been converted to a Waterbomber, and I think there is a Boeign 747 also, But they limited because they have to land, and Stop to take on water which takes about 8 minutes, Where as the Mars can fly for 5 or more hours without stopping. I will do some info hunting on the web when I get more time.
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,080
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Post by Nick on Oct 23, 2007 18:16:00 GMT -8
OK, i was just repeating what it said on the back of a postcard I have, so you could be right, queenofcowichan. Postcards have been known to be notoriously unreliable sources of info.
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Post by queenofcowichan on Oct 23, 2007 20:20:23 GMT -8
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Post by queenofcowichan on Oct 23, 2007 20:25:01 GMT -8
The Above Link does not work!
However on Yahoo or Google type in Tanker 910 and it will take you to some sites regarding the tanker. If you hit Image search you will find pictures of it. These tankers were converted not too long ago.
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Post by yvr on Oct 24, 2007 21:23:14 GMT -8
Lets hope the Thursday evening news has footage of the Mars working a fire in SoCal. It would been even better if it was on CNN.
Lets hope the crew is very careful. They are flying a museum piece powered by vintage Wright 3350 engines. With high temperatures, and max gross take offs the old bird will be strained to the max. It's risky at the best of times.
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,080
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Post by Nick on Oct 24, 2007 21:31:12 GMT -8
It is kind of what they are for. Is fighting a forest fire in California any different than fighting a fire here? Yes they should be careful, but not any more careful than they already are when they are fighting a local fire. Remember those planes saw almost constant service in 2003 when they were in Kelowna and McClure-Barrierre (sp?).
Yes, it would be very cool to see one of our Mars bombers on CNN, or even any national american station (yes, even Fox).
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Mirrlees
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Post by Mirrlees on Oct 25, 2007 0:38:16 GMT -8
Lets hope the Thursday evening news has footage of the Mars working a fire in SoCal. It would been even better if it was on CNN. Lets hope the crew is very careful. They are flying a museum piece powered by vintage Wright 3350 engines. With high temperatures, and max gross take offs the old bird will be strained to the max. It's risky at the best of times. Yes, those R-3350's are impressive engines; 28 cylinders in a double row with super-chargers they can put out almost 4,000 HP EACH!!!  |
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Oct 25, 2007 2:51:54 GMT -8
I heard a report this morning US Customs apparently delayed the deployment of this plane to California. Reasons unknown at this time, but I will update if I hear more. I would guess no one involved in that fiasco lives in the San Diego region!
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Post by Ferryman on Oct 25, 2007 7:09:39 GMT -8
Global BC News sent down one of their reporters on the plane, and they were talking to him this morning on the trip down there. Apparently they hit some seagulls which caused a bit of damage, so they had to turn back and land in Seattle, to repair it. Also sounds like they're getting ready to take off to start dropping loads of water on the fires.
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Post by 7sisters on Oct 25, 2007 10:52:36 GMT -8
Hey Guy's...Not only BC Ferries but am also a huge aviation buff and Mars fan!...My friend Tom Irving who is a retired GM at Flying Tankers e-mailed me this morning to tell me that LYL {Hawaii Mars} suffered a few bird strikes enroute to California!....Damage to one of the horizontal stabilizers!...They fixed it during the night and was ready for ops in the AM!....FYI....Later Dan
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Post by Danny on Oct 25, 2007 16:08:47 GMT -8
It stayed the night on Lake Elsinore in California and we saw them do a couple of test drops.
We were surprised that it didn't take off til 2pm today, but when they did it was awesome.
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Post by yvr on Oct 25, 2007 20:42:10 GMT -8
Having the Mars sit on a lake for the better part of a day is not revenue producing.
The Mars working in California is strictly a business deal. I imagine the Coulson billing system is based on most of the following. The number of drops made with full tanks (aircraft cycles), and the number of hours flown. There is probably a minimum usage clause, so that they get paid even if the aircraft isn't required on a particular day. Expenses such as ferry flights, access to aviation engine oil (those puppies use lots of oil), fuel - in this case avgas, a dock for mtce. purposes, transportation (rental vans), crew accommodation, and meal per diem's will be factored in as well.
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Kam
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Post by Kam on Oct 26, 2007 10:43:00 GMT -8
I remember way way back at about age 14 when I was in the air cadets we got a tour of them out on Sprout Lake. It was just incredible... you just don’t appreciate the size of them until you are right up beside one or wandering around the inside.
We got to climb out the roof hatch and walk down to the wing tips. When we all got to the tip that was out of the water the old girl rolled over to that wing and gave us a good scare! The crew just giggled...
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Post by queenofcowichan on Nov 1, 2007 18:11:01 GMT -8
Does anyone have any updated info on the Hawaii Mars? Is she still in California or has returned to Sproat Lake?
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Post by kylefossett on Nov 3, 2007 13:09:08 GMT -8
www.martinmars.com here is a link to Coulson's Martin Mars website. It doesn't have any rates on the site but I can remeber hearing a couple of seasons ago that for both aircraft on a fire they are billed out at $18,000/hour. they bill out for flying time. the number of drops doesn't matter. if they do one drop an hour or 10 drops an hour the price is still the same
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Kam
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Post by Kam on Nov 8, 2007 8:37:50 GMT -8
Saw her in Nanoose bay last night around 5:00.
I suspect it was getting a bit to dark to make the last hop over the hill so they pulled in for the night.
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