Yes, we've done a lot on the Martin Mars and its final flight in the last few weeks but if you've seen a better aviation video in the past few days then by all means send it along. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds happened to be at the Abbotsford International Airshow, about 15 minutes away from the Mars's intended route, on Sunday and put together a plan to escort the giant flying boat to its final destination of Pat Bay in Victoria, B.C. The plane will be the centerpiece of an aerial firefighting exhibit at the B.C. Aviation Museum. The moment captured above occurs at about 26 minutes.
A dandy video and fitting farewell to the MARS. Hard to believe this is the only post so far. Did I miss something? Nice to see it’s found a good home where we’ll be able to be impressed by it’s size and history. Must have been the right Karma to have the Snowbirds nearby and able to honour it with an escort to Pat bay on Saanich inlet.
The Snowbirds are not just another military airshow team. A couple of years ago, one of the pilots happened to run into one of our EAA Vintage Flightline Ops leaders a few months before Airventure, In the course of the conversation, he mentioned that he’d always wanted to “camp under the wing” at Oshkosh. She asked when his Tutors were built. When he said “1969”, she said, “Then it’s ‘vintage’. You can tiedown and camp with us!” Given the insurmountable international organizational hurdles, the subject was dropped.
But shortly after the Snowbirds arrived at Airventure, one of the spare Tutors mysteriously appeared on the hard-surface road in front of the Vintage Ops building. Pup-tents, bedding, and coolers of Canadian beer also magically appeared for two pilots. Pictures were taken, toasts were made, and aviation stories were exchanged well into the night. The next morning, the whole thing was Xanadu.
Regarding the video, I’d like to point out how incredibly difficult it is to fly formation when your sight point is a very large banking aircraft a hundred meters away. Very impressive job, and a fitting final flight for the Mars.