Philippine Mars prepared for ferry

For many, many years, Martin JRM-3 Mars C-FLYK ‘Philippine Mars’ and C-FLYL ‘Hawaii Mars’ were residents of the flying boat ramp of Sproat Lake (BC) in Canada. C-FLYK flew its last operational season in the summer of 2006 and has remained at its base ever since.

C-FLYL ‘Hawaii Mars’ made its last flight in July 2016 when it visited AirVenture 2016 at Oshkosh (USA). At that occasion the plane was flown by well-known collector Kermit Weeks, who at that time seemed to have plans to buy it for his own Fantasy of Flight museum.

Despite several attempts, its owner Coulson Flying Tankers remained unsuccessful in selling both giants. Eventually Coulson decided to donate the final two surviving flying boats of the type in the world to aviation museums.

After months of preparations C-FLYL ‘Hawaii Mars’ took off on 11 August 2024 for its final flight to Pat Bay near Victoria International Airport, base of the British Columbia Aviation Museum (BCAM).

Now its time for C-FLYK ‘Philippine Mars’ to be prepared for its final flight. Since the departure of C-FLYL Coulson technicians have been working hard get ‘YK’ ready for its journey to Tucson (AZ) where it will become an impressive exhibit in the Pima Air and Space Museum.

Earlier this month ‘Philippine Mars’ got her ‘feet’ wet again after being launched in Sproat Lake. Since then several taxi trials have been performed in preparation for a flight to Lake Roosevelt in Arizona. From there, the plane will be partially dismantled to be trucked to the Pima museum.

The tentative date for the plane to leave Sproat Lake for San Francisco is 18 November, but that is dependent on weather and paperwork for the export permit.

Earlier reports on both Martin Mars flying boats can be found here and here

Photo: Rob Frolic