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Martin Mars water bomber comes out of retirement to fight B.C. wildfires
Amazing old aircraft now 70 years old that can scoop up 30 tons of water from a lake without stopping. They tried to replace them with C-130s but they require airports for loading water or chemical and are no match for the old technology. (www.ctvnews.ca) Plus d'info...
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That's a grand ole heavy. One drop probably equals 5 of the smaller wb's.
I wonder if they will put it back into retirement.. She sure is proving her worth...
John I recently was in Memphis at the FEDEX base looking over the DC10 aircraft they have. I was really amazed the oldest one was 45 years old and still flying. Some are ex UAL Continental, Delta. I never thought they would go that long. But mind you the Boeing 747-100 at Seattle Everett Just down the road from Boeing stored still lives and they say she can be started up and flown. Nice story John.
The old girl is like the A-10 for fire fighting. It can deliver 30 tons of water in continuous passes. Here is another link with the back story.
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/martin-mars-water-bomber-grounded-after-53-years-in-b-c-1.624458
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/martin-mars-water-bomber-grounded-after-53-years-in-b-c-1.624458
You just can't keep a great airplane down!
I flew on this airplane in 1951. and it is still flying. wonderful..
