B.C.’s last Martin Mars water bomber could be headed to Victoria museum
The last airworthy Martin Mars water bomber is headed to the B.C. Aviation Museum in Sidney.
The Hawaii Mars, owned by Port Alberni-based Coulson Groups of Companies, hasn’t been used to fight wildfires since 2015 and has been sitting idle at the company’s Sproat Lake airbase since its retirement eight years ago.
Discussions between the aviation museum and company president Wayne Coulson about bringing the massive aircraft to Sidney have been going on for more than a year. The sides are now trying to determine the costs and logistics to get the bomber to the museum’s site at Victoria International Airport.
“It would be one big jewel — make that a boulder — in our crown at the B.C. Aviation museum,” Steve Nichol, president of the B.C. Aviation Museum, said in an interview.
“But it will be a monumental project just to get it here.”
