Philippine Mars water bomber leaves Island, flying to new home in Arizona

Water bomber's final flight

Photo: .DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

Philippine Mars moored at Cowichan Bay on Jan. 7, 2025. It has been given a U.S. Navy paint job.

The Philippine Mars water bomber — a decades-long fixture on Sproat Lake — has left Vancouver Island and landed in American waters as part of its final journey to a museum in Arizona.

Flight tracker SKYTRAC announced that the Mars touched down in the waters off San Francisco at 3:54 p.m. on Sunday, a few hours after the venerable plane took off from Sproat Lake.

The last airworthy Martin Mars water bomber was supposed to begin that journey in December but unexpected problems issues led to pilots making an emergency landing in Patricia Bay.

Last month Coulson Aviation returned the plane to Sproat Lake, where crews worked on a major engine fixes.

The plane is expected to go to San Diego next, then head inland to an undisclosed desert lake before reaching its new home at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

Philippine Mars is one of four Martin Mars aircraft converted to water-bombing tankers that fought wildfires for more than 50 years.

Only seven of the Martin Mars aircraft were ever made by the California-based Glenn L. Martin Company, all for the U.S. navy as ocean patrol and long-range transport during the Second World War.

Last year, Hawaii Mars was retired to the B.C. Aviation Museum in North Saanich with much fanfare, with tens of thousands watching it fly over several Vancouver Island communities with a Snowbirds escort until it touched down at Patricia Bay near Victoria International Airport.