A fitting end to a long career

R

R181

Grumpy old man
Vacumatic

Vacumatic

Testy
R181 said:
It is a fitting end to the long career of the Martin Mars airplane. While it will no longer fly, it begins a new life on static public display preserving the last remaining one in existence.

Final flight of iconic Martin Mars water bomber over British Columbia

Should you be up for a more in-depth look at the Martin Mars, you can find it here:

Mighty Planes: Martin Mars | Season 1 Episode 2 (Full Episode) | MIGHTY

What a wonderful aircraft it was.

Bob
Click to expand...

What a glorious plane, big fan of their flying boat cousins too.
 
R

R181

Grumpy old man
There were many flying boats in service between WWI and WWII that slowly faded away after WWII. The pulp and paper mill that I spent my working life at had 2 company aircraft when I started in the early 1970s. Those were a DC3 and a Canso/Catalina flying boat. Those 2 aircraft were sold off when the company was no longer locally owned. Many Canso/Catalina flying boats were converted to water bombers only to be replaced by Canadian made CL 215 and a later improved version the CL 415. Flying boats still have a purpose today.

CL-415.jpg


One of a pair of CL 415s water bombing a chip pile fire in wood yard of the mill I worked at. They were very low when releasing the water and at a guess about 100-200 feet.

Bob
 
H

HookUp

Veteran
Never took a ride in the Martin Mars but did work with the association of flying boats for a spell

Have flown been in a few DC-3's.

First one was a private owner. We took it from NC to Key West FL.

Second time was on Vintage Air. Richard Branson co-owned the airline in the 90's.. The stews and pilots would dress up in their traditional 1950's outfits and offer premium service. They tried to allow smoking, but the regulations wouldn't allow them too.

DC3 Vintage air.jpg
 
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R

R181

Grumpy old man
The DC3 or Dakota/Dak as it was called in the RCAF served from 1943 to 1989. Our local Naval Reserve Unit had occasionally to fly either coast for weekend training and were usually flown there by Hercules. On at least one occasion in the late 1970s early 1980s they were flown out by Dakota/Dak. I missed that flight.

Bob
 
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