The Philippine Mars is back on the water for the first time in a decade. The waterbomber was towed down the ramp at the Sproat Lake Bomber Base on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.

The last Martin Mars waterbomber in flying condition will soon head to its permanent home at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. Crews had it on the lake last Nov. 4-5 for some taxiing and testing. It was brought out of the water and back on land Wednesday so crews could work on one of the four engines.

"It was amazing," said Rob Frolic, who was on the lake in his pleasure boat to watch the process. He was still on the lake when the Philippine Mars took its first taxi in what Frolic said was 17 years.

"It was a great sight to see," he said.

Frolic was one of dozens of people from around the region who paid for the experience of taxiing in the Hawaii Mars waterbomber before it left Sproat Lake for its final resting place, the B.C. Aviation Museum in Victoria. The Hawaii Mars left to great fanfare, with thousands of people lining at Sproat Lake and Harbour Quay waterfront to wave it off. People lined the shores along its route, and thousands of people were in Victoria to welcome the Hawaii Mars, which was accompanied by the Snowbirds air demonstration squadron.

The Philippine Mars is painted in its original U.S. Navy blue. It was one of five Martin JRM Mars flying boats that served in the U.S. Navy. Built between 1942 and 1947, the Mars fleet flew cargo between Hawaii and the Pacific Islands to support the U.S. Navy during the Second World War.

The Pima Museum notes the Martin Mars supported the Korean War effort with medical air transport between Hawaii and California before transitioning to cargo work. They were decommissioned from the U.S. Navy in 1956.

They came to Canada in 1958 to work as aerial firefighting tankers for the forestry industry. The Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars were fixtures on Sproat Lake for decades as they fought forest fires on the west coast based out of the Vancouver Island lake.

"We are pleased to have the Philippine Mars join our museum where we will preserve this World War II-era aircraft for decades to come," said Scott Marchand, CEO of Pima Air and Space Museum.

Crews put the Philippine Mars through its paces for more than an hour on Nov. 4 and were back at it again the next day.

The Philippine Mars was back on land by Wednesday afternoon though, one of its four engines under cover as the ground crew checked it out. The engines and propellers are the same ones that had been on the Hawaii Mars for its final flight. Coulson Aviation maintenance crews removed the engines and trucked them back to the Bomber Base from Victoria to use with the Philippine Mars.

Already, rumours are swirling that the final Mars is going to fly out of Port Alberni for good around Nov. 17-18. Those dates have not been confirmed with Coulson Aviation.