That is an airplane I would like to be able to walk up to and look over.

Well if you ever get to Vancouver Island it is worth the trip over to see the Martin Mars anchored up in Lake Cowichan

Hi guys
That's a good video of a great airplane the Captain on the Mars in the video is a friend of mine now retired.They are based on Sproat Lake just west of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island,if you look on Google Earth you can see them on there moorings at the east end of Sproat lake.
As an aside I have dropped a little water over the years 42,960,000 pounds which translates into 5,170 pickups and bomb runs in the PBY.I love those videos reminds me of the old days.
Bill

Bill
Sorry yes there anchored @ Sprot Lake not Lake Cowichan a little slip there. Great war time water bomber just to bad there's only one left flying .
Wo 5,170 p/u and bomb runs con grads on a job well done ,sure you have more than a few storys to be told about the good old days.

awhile back we watched from our fishing cabin in ontario while one of them worked. Watching that plane come into the lake, drop its chute and fill up was something never to forget. The guys that fly those things are pilots with a capital P

Mr. Brady - A PBY? What happened to the Grummans? I used to fly a long wing HU-16 Albatross. Not much as a water bomber, but you could play a hell of a game of ping pong in the cargo hold.

quote:

Originally posted by sjr:
Bill
Sorry yes there anchored @ Sprot Lake not Lake Cowichan a little slip there. Great war time water bomber just to bad there's only one left flying .
Wo 5,170 p/u and bomb runs con grads on a job well done ,sure you have more than a few storys to be told about the good old days.

They had two, but one crashed a couple of years ago while fire fighting.

Grizz

Hi Poprivit
Well come aboard I don't know if an Albatross was ever converted into a bomber,(not in Canada I know)I always thought it would have been great.
Hi Grizzly
There are still two Mars but they are only operating one.The one that crashed was in 1961.Bill

I wonder if that is Ron Smith flying that puppy? He douses fires in Canada in the summers. He also makes beautiful gain twist rifle barrels the rest of the year.