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http://www.timescolonist.com/martin-mar ... c-1.624458
Martin Mars water bomber grounded after 53 years in B.C.
September 13, 2013
The retirement of the last Martin Mars water bomber, the largest piston-powered propeller-driven aircraft in the world,
marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for Wayne Coulson, head of Coulson Group of Companies in Port Alberni.
The Hawaii Mars has been pulled out of the water and is now parked on a ramp at Coulson’s Sproat Lake base,
with the chances of it returning to firefighting service flickering like a dying ember.
Since 2007, the province has given Coulson a direct-award contract for the Hawaii Mars.
But starting next year, the province will invite competitive bidding for a $1.8-million aerial firefighting contract. The Hawaii Mars, which can pick up 27,000 litres as it skims the water, will not be considered.
A direct-award contact for the water bomber — which has 53 years of history fighting B.C. wildfires — no longer makes economic sense, said Forests Minister Steve Thomson this week.
“The decision was based on the fact here are more cost-effective, efficient options available due to advances in airplane technology,” Thomson said.
Smaller aircraft with turbine engines and smaller drop patterns will be more suitable for B.C.’s mountainous terrain, he said.
Coulson questions the government’s argument on economics, saying he charged the province $672,000 a year to have the Hawaii Mars on standby. There was an additional charge for call-outs.
“They’re going to replace [the Mars] with newer equipment with less capacity, for $1.8 million a year,” Coulson said.
Ten jobs will be lost with the retirement of the Mars, said Coulson, and in a town like Port Alberni, that has a big impact.
Coulson said he didn’t make any money off the Mars, and kept the aircraft in operation because it was the right thing to do. It kept a dedicated team in their jobs and kept an Island icon in the air.
“It wasn’t a great business,” Coulson said. “It taught me a lot about firefighting. It created a lot of new opportunities.”
As the Hawaii Mars awaits its next move — to either a private owner or a museum — Coulson is looking ahead with anticipation to a new acquisition: a C-130Q Hercules contracted by the U.S. Forest Service and on the cutting edge of water bomber development.
...also see http://www.timescolonist.com/last-summe ... t-1.175864 of earlier this year.
