1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), c/n 9264, CF-LYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT

1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), c/n 9264, CF-LYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT at Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada in late May 1963

1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), c/n 9264, CF-LYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT (Forest Industries Flying Tankers Ltd.), Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, based at Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C.

• tail painted white
• 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; two inboard engines fitted with reversible-pitch devices on their 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 Plant, Middle River, Maryland (M)
• built as JRM-1 Mars (Model 170A), powered by four 2,200-hp Wright R-3350-8 Duplex-Cyclone supercharged 18-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers; long-range transport; JATO (jet-fuel assisted take off) rockets mounted under wings
• delivered as BuNo 76820, Philippine Mars to US Navy on June 26, 1946
• VR-2 Naval Air Transport Squadron, Naval Air Transport Service, USN, NAS Alameda, Alameda, San Francisco Bay, California, USA
• coded 820/RA
• converted to JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), 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
• withdrawn from use on May 7, 1956
• stored outside at NAS Alameda (NGZ/KNGZ), Alameda, San Francisco Bay, California, USA
• tt 18,661:8 hours
• sold as scrap
• bought by Hugo Forrester, trading as Mars Metals Company, San Francisco, California, USA in late spring 1959
• sold to FIFT (a consortium of five British Columbia forest companies formed by MacMillan Bloedel Limited, British Columbia Forest Products Limited, Pacific Logging Co. Ltd., Tahsis Company, and Western Forest Industries)
• ferried from San Francisco Bay to Patricia Bay by Fairey Aviation conversion crew
• 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, refitted with 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
• conversion by Fairey Aviation Company of Canada Limited, Victoria International Airport (YYJ/CYYJ), North Saanich, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada in 1962
• registered as CF-LYK on July 4, 1962
• into service for the fire season in 1963
• re-registered as C-FLYK in 1976
• registration cancelled on September 28, 2001
• registration renewed with Flying Tankers Inc. (TimberWest Forest Ltd.), Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada on September 28, 2001
• based at Sproat Lake Seaplane Base (CAA9/CBT9), Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C.
• registration cancelled on February 6, 2004
• registration renewed on February 25, 2004
• offered for sale on November 10, 2006
• registration cancelled on June 8, 2007
• C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, Coulson Flying Tankers (Coulson Aircrane Ltd./Subsidiary of The Coulson Group of Companies), Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada on June 29, 2007
• based at Sproat Lake Seaplane Base (CAA9/CBT9), Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C.
• parked onshore, not operational since 2007
• Update: The Coulson Group of Companies announced on August 23, 2012 that Philippine Mars would be retired and flown to the National Naval Aviation Museum, NAS Pensacola (NPA/KNPA), Escambia County, near Pensacola, Florida, USA to become a static display
• Update: to be repainted in original US Navy markings and colour scheme, expected to be delivered to museum in November 2012

[1959 Kodak Retina IIIS (Type 027) rangefinder 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 86125, with Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50-mm f/1.9 Synchro Compur lens, s/n 6841319; Agfa Agfachrome 64 (19 DIN/ASA 64) 20-exposure colour slide film]

© Copyright photograph by Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, May 1963 / Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 2011