Tag: Martin Mars

Martin Mars drops 64,000 gallons on two fires

The Martin Mars 7,200-gallon air tanker, air tanker 223, has been somewhat busy over the last few days, but not as busy as the company would like, apparently. Someone on Twitter who calls themselves “HawaiiMars” and knows a lot about the company complains each day that they do not have an assignment. For example:

Sept. 1 at 12:22 a.m. (referring to August 31): “The Mars sat on the Lake all day and didn’t fly one mission, suprising with all the fires burning”
Sept. 1 at 12:26 p.m.: “Mars still sitting on Lake Elsinore not flying”
Sept. 1 at 1:16 p.m.: “Mars still not flying”
Sept. 1 at 3:22 p.m.: “Fires Still Burning, Mars still Sitting On The Lake”

But in spite of the whining, since August 15 they have worked on the La Brea, Cottonwood, Oak Glen, and Station fires. In 4.5 hours on the initial attack of the Oak Glen fire on August 30 they made 9 drops for a total of 50,000 gallons. That is a shitload of water from one air tanker in 4.5 hours. Most likely they mixed Class A foam concentrate or Thermo-Gel with the water.

Yesterday on the Station fire they made three drops of Thermo-Gel for a total of 14,000 gallons.

Apparently they have only been able to carry about 4,600 to 5,500 gallons the last few days, due to the altitude of the fires and the density-altitude. Mt. Wilson is at 5,700 feet.

Martin Mars "sitting" at Lake Elsinore, 2008. Photo: bamboowomen.com

The aircraft is versatile, in that it can drop plain water scooped from a lake, water with Class A foam, or water mixed with gel concentrate like it dropped on Mt. Wilson on Tuesday. If a lake is close that they can use for scooping, the aircraft can put a lot of liquid on a fire in a hurry. Today “HawaiiMars” claimed:

“The Hawaii is one of the least expensive tankers, our Daily Cost Per Gallon averages less then $2.00 per gallon delievered”

Martin Mars video

Here is a video of the 7,200-gallon Martin Mars air tanker doing some training and pilot re-currency in southern California. Some of the video was shot in infrared, probably from the lead helicopter that works with the aircraft. The audio has been disabled.

(THE VIDEO IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

The Martin Mars is currently working on the La Brea fire in southern California.

air tanker Infrared Martin Mars

Martin Mars approved by USFS to fight fire

On Saturday the U.S. Forest Service finally certified the 7,200-gallon Martin Mars air tanker to work on fires for the agency. After a seven-hour flight from Canada on July 12, it flew several check rides on Friday and Saturday. It will be based at Lake Elsinore in southern California.

Here is an excerpt from an article at Fire Department Network News:

A Canadian-registered Martin Mars water bomber and its sophisticated spotter helicopter were officially certified Saturday as “Mission Ready” by the U.S. Forest Service for battling potential wildland fires in the Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forests.

Owner Wayne Coulson, of Coulson Flying Tankers, told FDNNTV his crew flew several “check rides,” or test missions, late Friday and then again Saturday morning with USFS observers on board.

The vintage aircraft made practice, thirty-second long, water scoops on nearby Diamond Valley Lake then, as Coulson described the maneuvers, “roared around” a mountainous section of the San Bernardino National Forest for monitored 7,200 gallon target drops.

At the same time Coulson’s new Sikorsky S-76 electronics-filled chopper successfully demonstrated its ability to lead the Martin Mars into fire zone target areas while video taping and relaying aerial observations of water drops back to Forest Service incident commanders on the ground.

Coulson said, “It was a 100-percent successful familiarity performance for Forest Service personnel who now know how best to deploy the two aerial firefighting aircraft when needed.”

air tanker California Martin Mars

Martin Mars contracts with USFS

martin mars scooping — Martin Mars air tanker refilling at Lake Shasta, 2008

The Martin Mars air tanker, which saw service last summer in northern California during the Seige of ’08, has a new contract with the U.S. Forest Service. The 7,200 gallon air tanker will be based at Lake Elsinore, California from June 1 through November 15, 2009 with an option to renew for two additional years.

Coulson Flying Tankers, who owns the ship, has invested $500,000 in new instrumentation for the plane and for thermo-imaging equipment for the Sikorski helicopter which will serve as a “bird dog”, or lead plane as it is termed in the United States. The helicopter will collect thermal images of the fire which can be transmitted to a ground station.

This contract means the ship, named Hawaii Mars, will not be available during this period for fighting fire in British Columbia where the company is based.

Coulson has a second Martin Mars, named Phillipine Mars, which was not used in the United States last year, but the company is nogotiating to put it under contract in Australia. There will be a crew of 20 in rotation in California, and if the second ship finds work down under, the company will need to train additional people to work with the Phillipine Mars in Australia.

Martin Mars

Martin Mars reloads

I wonder what kind of wake the Martin Mars creates when it skims along a 3-mile stretch of Lake Shasta filling its 7,200 gallon tank at 80 miles per hour? It probably makes the lake a little choppy for the water skiers for a few minutes.

On Friday, it did this 20 times, reloading about every 25 minutes, dropping the water on the nearby 16,700-acre Motion fire. That is a damn good turn around time for an air tanker. The pilots have the option of dropping plain water on the fires, or mixing class A foam or fire retardant gel into the water.

Do you remember the opening sequence in the 1989 movie, the Steven Spielberg production with Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman that is centered around air tanker pilots? Turn up the sound when you play the 55-second clip below….it’s more fun that way.

One of the lines in the movie is still food for thought for firefighters. John Goodman said to Richard Dreyfuss:

Pete, there ain’t no war here… And this is why you’re not exactly a hero for taking these chances you take. You’re more of what I would call a dickhead.

Some trivia about the movie, from Wikipedia:

The movie is set in the Kootenai National Forest in Montana, with some scenes filmed in and around Libby, Montana. Some 500 people from Libby were recruited for the movie as extras to act as wildland firefighters.

In the opening scenes the forest fires were created by Pathfinder Helicopter Inc.. They were hired by the Forest Service to burn some clearcuts near Libby that were filmed for the movie. The helicopter Pilot was Steve Tolle and the Ground Crew Manager was Jim Leighty.

The Libby airport was used to double as the Forest Service Headquarters in the movie.

California Martin Mars

Video of Martin Mars air tanker

Here is a pretty good 5 minute video of the Martin Mars air tanker dropping on the Motion fire near Shasta Like north of Redding, CA. It has a musical sound track that is only a little obnoxious. (I don’t know why, but the media keeps insisting on calling it a “water bomber”.)

California Martin Mars Motion Fire

California: Martin Mars on Lime Complex

The Martin Mars air tanker, which holds 7,200 gallons, made 5 drops on the Lime Complex and the Motion fire on Tuesday. It scooped the water out of Lake Shasta. Aerial firefighting in northern California has been very limited for the last 2 days due to poor visibility caused by smoke from the fires.

A total of 8 MAFFS air tankers, C-130’s from the military, are now assigned, working out of McClellan near Sacramento.

Martin Mars

Martin Mars lands at Lake Shasta

The third time proved to be the charm for the Canada-based Martin Mars air tanker. After having engine problems on Friday and Saturday, it successfully completed it’s 4-hour trip to Lake Shasta north of Redding, California this morning. It will stage there until it receives an assignment, which will likely occur today, visibility permitting. On each mission it can drop 7,200 gallons of water, Thermogel, or water mixed with foam concentrate on a fire and then will refill it’s tank by scooping water from a lake.

Wildfire Today covered the saga of this aircraft earlier, here and here.

Martin Mars Shasta — The Martin Mars anchored on Lake Shasta, June 29. It has already been outfitted with an American flag and a USFS decal. Photo courtesy of ShastaLake.com.

California Martin Mars

Mars Martin air tanker: more problems

The 61-year old amphibious air tanker on contract from a Canadian firm had still more mechanical problems on it’s second attempt to make the 4-hour flight to Lake Shasta near Redding, California. On Friday it was 10 minutes from landing on the lake when it lost an engine and returned to their base in British Columbia. After making repairs, it took off again on Saturday, but the engine did not feel right to the pilots, so they returned to their base again. The owners of the plane expect to try again on Sunday, June 29, to fly it to Lake Shasta.

On Saturday there were so many spectators at Shasta Dam watching fires in the area and hoping to see the air tanker land on the lake that authorities had to close the loop road to the dam for safety.

The owner of the aircraft, Coulson Flying Tankers, has a second Martin Mars, but it is out of service at their base in British Columbia.

While we’re waiting for the ship to show up in California, here is a little air tanker porn for you. Or if you prefer, air tanker eye candy. You have to admit, it’s a very nice looking aircraft. I hope they can get the mechanical problems sorted out.

Martin Mars

Martin Mars expected at Lake Shasta, California

A Martin Mars water-scooping amphibious air tanker lost an engine yesterday 10 minutes before it was due to land at Lake Shasta in northern California to help with the forest fires. It turned around and flew back to its base at Port Alberni, British Columbia where the engine was going to be repaired or replaced. If the repairs go well, their plan is to land the plane at Lake Shasta at 10 a.m. today, Saturday. But as this is being updated at 7:45 a.m. PT, the aircraft, Canadian number CFLYL, is not showing up on flight tracking.

The aircraft can carry 7,200 gallons of water, Thermogel, or water with a 0.4% solution of foam concentrate. It may be the only air tanker with Thermogel capability. The ship was used for a while last fall in southern California during their fire bust and flew out of Lake Elsinore. This year it will be under contract with the U.S. Forest Service.

California Martin Mars