A local group?s efforts to bring the last two remaining Martin Mars seaplanes home have been crushed.
Aviation enthusiasts had hoped to win the famed planes from the auction block and return them to Middle River, where they were manufactured at Martin State Airport in the 1940s. But after scrambling for cash for the past four months, supporters said this week that their “credible” bid was lost to a helicopter logging firm in British Columbia.
“It?s certainly disappointing given all the effort we put into it,” said Stan Piet, archive director at the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum. “It?s a little bittersweet. We love to see them continue to fly.”
Only two of five Martin Mars remain, and both have been based on a lake on Vancouver Island and used to fight fires for the past 50 years. The largest seaplanes to serve the military and the namesake of the local Mars supermarket chain, the Mars would be a catalyst for its expansion, museum supporters said.
According to the new owner, Wayne Coulson, president of Coulson Group of Companies, one plane will be made available to the local city of Port Alberni after its retirement. The other will be sold on a commercial basis, but Coulson said he looks forward to operating them “for years to come.”
“There?s not much you can?t build in-house and we can still get parts for the motors,” he said. “They could last a significant amount of time.”
Piet said a Mars acquisition will remain one of the museum?s long-term goals.
