An iconic member of the B.C wildfire fight over the years is getting ready for retirement.
The Hawaii Martian Mars water bomber will embark on its final flight Sunday, August 11, to the British Columbia Aviation Museum becoming the headliner of the BC Wildfire Aviation exhibit.
Coulson Aviation has been preparing for the delivery of the aircraft and they said they look forward to welcoming the plane to its forever home.
“We are proud to see the Hawaii Mars make its final journey to the British Columbia Aviation Museum. Our dedicated teams have been working tirelessly to prepare the aircraft for this significant moment.”
The aircraft will be joined by all nine planes of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds demonstration team helping welcome it to the museum.
The group will fly along the east coast of Vancouver Island over several forest communities to commemorate the planes service on those communities over the years and the people can track the flight live online.
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds statement said they are proud to be able to fly alongside the largest water bomber in the world for its final flight.
“The Snowbirds salute the brave firefighters, in the air, and on the ground, that work to protect our country from wildfires, and we are excited to see this piece of aviation history be preserved and on display to honour and inspire aviator’s past, present, and future.”
The Hawaii Mars program has been around for over 5 decades in the forest firefighting landscape and could drop more than 25,000 litres of water on a run.
Specific flight details will not be revealed, but the plane is expected to arrive at the museum between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m., weather depending.
