Philippine Mars, one of two surviving JRM Martin Mars flying boats finished its four-month journey to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona early Saturday. The final leg of the trip was a 150-mile highway trek from Lake Pleasant, north of Phoenix. The plane was flown from Vancouver Island to Lake Pleasant in early February and has been dismantled at the boat launch at the lake. The engines, tail and wings were removed and shipped to the museum. The fuselage was put on a massive trailer for the trip, which took about a week because utilities and traffic lights had to be removed to make way for the massively oversized load.
Excellent work by Coulson maintenance and flight crew, trucking company, museum volunteers, and utilities people who lifted wires.
Philippine Mars had to return from a flight into the US, landed at Patricia Bay at YYJ rather than risking weather at Sproat Lake base, maintenance people fixed engine, flown to Sproat where much work was done including replacing one engine.
Ingenuity by Southwest Industrial Rigging who trucked it, and utilities - sometimes they raised wires by detaching a light pole and tilting it backward.
Tried to sell it to someone who could use it.
Tried to make a deal with Kermit Weeks for his collection in FL but Weeks decided the money should be spent on fixing up some of his existing collection.
Had a tentative deal with a military oriented museum in FL, in trade for C-130 parts but bureaucrats interfered and museum could not get taxpayer funs for a hanger.
So into museums, some of the best engines will be sold, museum will have unserviceable ones on their aircraft.
Coulson tried very hard, probably would have been easier to just fly them to Port Alberni harbour nearby, remove saleable parts, and put the aluminum scrap on a barge.