Hawaii Martin Mars Takes Final Flight

It is the end of an era as the Hawaii Martin Mars took its final flight yesterday.

The iconic wildfire-fighting aircraft took off from Sproat Lake in Port Alberni yesterday and landed in Saanich Inlet. The British Columbia Aviation Museum announced in March it had acquired the Hawaii Mars from Coulson Aviation.

Originally built to ferry cargo for the US Navy, a consortium of BC forest companies bought four of the planes in 1959.

Only two survive - the Martin Mars and the Philippine Mars, the latter of which will make its way down to an air and space museum in Arizona later this year.

The Snowbirds accompanied the plane yesterday on its final flight.