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Newfoundking

Guess the Emergency Vehicle Challenge

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Sproat Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Role Flying boat National origin United States Manufacturer Glenn L. Martin Company First flight 23 June 1942 Introduction 30 November 1943 Retired 1956 (USN) Primary users United States Navy

Flying Tankers Produced 1945 - 1948 Number built 7

named MARS

In 1959, the remaining Mars were to be sold for scrap but a Canadian company, Forest Industries Flying Tankers (FIFT), was formed and bid for the four aircraft and a large spares holding. The company represented a consortium of British Columbia forest companies and the bid was accepted and the sale was completed in December 1959. The four aircraft were flown to Fairey Aviation at Victoria, British Columbia for conversion as water bombers. The conversion involved the installation of a tank in in the cargo bay and retractable pick-up scoops to allow uploading of water while the aircraft was taxiing. The scoops allowed 30 tons of water to be taken on board in 22 seconds. Later some of the hull fuel tanks were replaced with water tanks.

The Marianas Mars crashed near Northwest Bay, British Columbia on 23 June 1961 during firefighting operations; all four crewmembers were lost. Just over a year later, on 12 October 1962, the Caroline Mars was destroyed by Typhoon Freda while parked onshore. The Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars had their conversions to water bombers accelerated and entered service in 1963.[1] They appeared at local airshows, demonstrating their water-dropping ability. Flying Tankers Inc. also flew the water bombers to other hot spots around the province when a need developed, such as in August 2003, when a large forest fire threatened the city of Kelowna, British Columbia.

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Norway wins,I saw this thing in action 5-6 years ago...it was massive and the whole house vibrated as it flew over. It was putting out a fire on a mountain that was threatening the place I was living at the time.

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