Martin Mars news and the Philippine Mars restoration plans

[Warbirdnerd]

The engines were run on the blue one last Thursday...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taOC3QAIUVs

[Timelapse]

Philippine Mars Starting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taOC3QAIUVs

Nice to see the engine runs of the Philippine Mars! Hopefully we are getting closer to the ferry flight to Pensacola.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lkO6E4cijU

[Mortmer]

I thought these picture (found on reddit.com) might be of interest here -





Apparently the man in the pictures was the flight engineer and is still alive, living in Florida just outside of Tampa.

The thread on Reddit it is from is here -

http://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/2caxlv/my_grandfather_during_ww2_hes_91_now_and_still_as/

[Chappie]

I would guess that the Rex will ultimately be sold to the Japanese. Interesting that the NMNA would deaccess such a rare aircraft.

That would be awesome. I'm not sure where I saw it, but I have a paper copy somewhere of an article entitled 'Who's Airplanes Are They Anyway?". In this piece the author stated that there are storage buildings where the Navy is pretty much hoarding warbirds with seemingly no plans to do anything with them except let them gather dust. For what purpose? If they have one or even two of a type on display, why hoard the rest? Why not release them for sale to an individual or museum who can return it to flight. Can anyone one substantiate this claim of the Navy hoarding warbirds?


Chappie

Local news article with some general Mars retirement news and some info. on test flying of the Philippine Mars over the next few months in preparation for a "Fall" flight over the Rocky Mountains and eventually down to the Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola.

Also a few words about efforts to find a museum home for the Hawaii Mars.

http://www.avtimes.net/news/local/couls ... -1.1317214

Look forward to seeing videos of the test flying of the Philippine Mars and hopefully getting a chance in the Fall to see it come into Pensacola.

[rcaf_100]

So, a little birdie told me that there will be a Mars flying for a bit this summer. Might be one of the last chances to see them in action.

It'll be in conjunction with the International Test Pilots School in London, Ontario. Apparently they are supposed to be helping flight test a new Chinese flying boat (possibly the AVIC TA-600?) and the Mars is a good fit for getting familiar on large flying boats. They have already started doing conversion work using a Seabee and Widgeon. I was told that they will be doing about 20 hours of training in the Mars in June or July.

So, a little birdie told me that there will be a Mars flying for a bit this summer. Might be one of the last chances to see them in action.

It'll be in conjunction with the International Test Pilots School in London, Ontario. Apparently they are supposed to be helping flight test a new Chinese flying boat (possibly the AVIC TA-600?) and the Mars is a good fit for getting familiar on large flying boats. They have already started doing conversion work using a Seabee and Widgeon. I was told that they will be doing about 20 hours of training in the Mars in June or July.

Interesting news! Thanks for sharing.

Any news out there regarding ferrying the Philippine Mars to Pensacola??

Some Recent news on the Mars saga.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadia ... -1.3065537

Hopefully they will get this straightened out and the Philippine Mars can be readied for its ferry flight to Florida. It would seem to make logical sense to me that one Mars end up in the U.S. at the Naval Aviation Museum and the other one remain in Canada. Both countries have a legitimate historical heritage with the aircraft.

[Rajay]

MES-rated pilots, much less MES instructors and training aircraft, are fast becoming endangered species. I love to see any kind of news that reflects efforts to change that around! Bravo!

[norman malayney]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadia ... -1.3065537

There are no aviation museum facilties in Canada financially capable of housing and maintaining the costly Mars. Both aircraft must eventualy find good museum homes in the USA for preservation. Someone needs to instill some common sense into the clueless bureaucrats in Ottawa.

Noman Malayney

[Mike]

Are they likely to fare any better in the U.S.? Certainly the salt air on the ramp at Pensacola will not be conducive to long-term preservation.

[Rajay]

And certainly nobody would claim that our homegrown domestic bureaucrats are any less clueless than the ones north of the border...

And the Warbirds News take on the latest moves:

http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-ne ... ymied.html

[C VEICH]

And the Warbirds News take on the latest moves:

http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-ne ... ymied.html

You just have to love it when your government steps in to try and control your private property. Sounds more like a mafia shakedown than anything.