1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), c/n 9264, C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, tail painted white, FIFT (Forest Industries Flying Tankers Ltd.), Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, based at Sproat Lake Seaplane Base (CAA9), Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C.; powered by four 2,500-hp Wright R-3350-24WA Duplex-Cyclone supercharged 18-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers; flying boat hull; crew of four (pilot, co-pilot, two flight engineers), firefighting water bomber; built by Glenn L. Martin Company, Baltimore, Maryland, USA at Middle River, Maryland (M); built as JRM-1 Mars (Model 170A), powered by four 2,500-hp Wright R-3350-24WA Duplex-Cyclone supercharged 18-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers; delivered as BuNo 76820, Philippine Mars, USN on June 26, 1946; VR-2 Naval Air Transport Squadron, NAS Alameda, Alameda, California; converted to JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), powered by four 3,000-hp Pratt & Whitney R-4360-4T Wasp Major supercharged 28-cylinder, four-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers; withdrawn from use on May 7, 1956; stored at NAS Alameda, Alameda, California, tt 18,662; bought by Hugo Forrester, trading as Mars Metals Company, in 1959; delivered to FIFT on September 5, 1959; converted to air tanker configuration with removal of all unnecessary military and cargo-loading gear, installation of side drop system, large water tanks (inside main fuselage where cargo used to be stowed), and sophisticated retractable scooping system, re-installation of original configuration of four 2,500-hp Wright R-3350-24WA Duplex-Cyclone supercharged 18-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers, by Fairey Aviation of Canada, Patricia Bay, Sidney, Vancouver Island, B.C. in 1962; CF-LYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT, Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C. on July 4, 1962; into service for the fire season in 1963; C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT, Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C. in 1976, re-registered; C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, Flying Tankers Inc., Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C. on July 4, 2001, registration renewed; offered for sale on November 10, 2006; C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, Coulson Aircrane Ltd., operating as Coulson Flying Tankers Inc., Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C., based at Sproat Lake Seaplane Base (CAA9), Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C., on May 1, 2007; owner registered since June 29, 2007.
Philippine Mars passing by at low altitude at the Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in summer 1982(?).
Philippine Mars putting on a demonstration, dropping a load of water from its two outlets on either side of the fuselage.
[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]
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