The mighty Mars miracle

Some lucky buyer seeking a vintage firefighting air tanker, a flying boat, and the largest warbird on the market can have it all with the purchase of the Martin JRM Mars seaplane known as Hawaii Mars.

In recent weeks, the giant seaplane has been viewed for sale on the Platinum Fighter Sales site where high-end warbirds and antique aircraft are offered.

It’s nothing short of a miracle on so many fronts that a huge 1940s flying boat in flyable condition is offered for sale in 2022.

The Martin Mars began life with the XP2BM patrol bomber prototype for the U.S. Navy. But by mid-World War II, the Navy’s access to land-based long-range patrol bombers like the PB4Y-1 Liberator and PB4Y-2 Privateer heralded a trend away from large flying boat bombers, and the XPB2M was modified into a transport.

The Navy’s other big wartime four-engine flying boats were PB2Y Coronados, also built as patrol bombers, and also converted to transports before war’s end.

The Navy continued to regard seaplanes as a viable component of its strategy, modifying the Mars to become the JRM transport. Differing from the XPB2M, the JRM featured one large single fin and rudder and purpose-built cargo handling options.

Twenty JRMs were ordered, but the end of the war brought production to an end with just five JRMs (one replacing an aircraft lost to fire shortly after it was built).

The five JRM Mars transports were named after Pacific island groups: Marshall Mars, Caroline Mars, Marianas Mars, Philippine Mars, and Hawaii Mars.

The Navy flew passengers and cargo in them, especially between San Francisco and Hawaii.

In 1950, Marshall Mars was consumed by fire, with those on board fortunately escaping.

The other four Mars transports routinely flew between San Francisco and Honolulu until 1956 when they were placed in storage at Alameda, California.

Three years later, the offering of the huge Mars flying boats for sale as scrap coincided with the nascent air tanker industry’s exploratory years. A consortium of timber companies in British Columbia pooled resources to buy and fly the JRMs as huge water scoopers for firefighting.

All four of the Martin flying boats made the journey to Vancouver Island.

Marianas Mars — the Canadians respectfully kept the names on the hulls of their newly acquired JRMs — crashed while fighting a fire in 1961. All four crew on board perished.

Caroline Mars was a victim of the famous Columbus Day storm of October 1962, when hurricane-strength winds damaged it beyond economical repair.

That left Philippine Mars and Hawaii Mars, each modified with tanks and scoops that could be extended to draw in 6,000 Imperial gallons of water in about 25 seconds.

From the mid-1960s onward, Philippine Mars and Hawaii Mars battled wildfires in British Columbia. Later, in 2007, Hawaii Mars was engaged in California, operating from large bodies of water like Lake Elsinore. By that time, the two JRMs passed to Coulson Aviation, the current owner.

Philippine Mars was retired from firefighting availability in 2012. After its fire duties were over, Philippine Mars was repainted in dark Navy blue.

The future of Philippine Mars is not set in stone, but Wayne Coulson, president of the Coulson aviation companies, says they continue to look at options with aviation museums.

“We are looking at flying to a museum,” he adds.

Imagine the positive attention that journey will get, as people come to get a glimpse of the Philippine Mars in operation.

When no longer contracted, the two flying boats have been kept in storage at their beautiful Sproat Lake base on Vancouver Island, except for the occasional show sortie by Hawaii Mars. Hawaii Mars’ last fanfare was a trip to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2016.

And now, with an asking price of $5 million, the bright red-and-white Hawaii Mars awaits its third life.

Coulson says nobody to date has shown an interest in buying the Hawaii Mars to return it to firefighting.

Time will tell whether a warbird operator will come forward to keep this historic icon of seaplane development and pioneering air tankers alive and afloat for future generations to appreciate.