The Canadian government has thrown a wrench into a tentative plan for the Navy’s National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola to acquire the one aircraft missing from its collection. The Navy is working on a deal with Coulson Flying Tankers, of Port Alberni, British Columbia, owner of the last two Martin Mars flying boats to acquire one of the massive aircraft. The Navy used the gigantic flying boats, the largest piston-powered aircraft ever put in serial production (six were built), as troop and cargo transports until 1956. The museum and the Navy have been negotiating a swap with Coulson for some surplus C-130s that the Canadian company would convert for firefighting. But now the Canadian government’s Heritage Ministry has blocked the transfer, saying the aircraft might be of cultural significance to Canada. Coulson must appear at a hearing to convince the ministry that the deal doesn’t violate the country’s heritage preservation rules.
Coulson CEO Wayne Coulson told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that his lawyers have assured him the government has no legal way to block the deal but the Navy also hasn’t committed to the plan. In the meantime the two airworthy aircraft are idle as firefighters. One is under contract to the Chinese government to train pilots in the operation of large flying boats. The other is on land with a fresh Navy blue paint job in anticipation of the deal with the museum. A member of the Canadian Parliament is trying to broker a deal that would send one of the aircraft to Pensacola and transfer ownership of the other to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Two years ago, the B.C. government, which had contracted with Coulson and previous owners of the Mars for firefighting for more than 50 years, announced it would no longer use the aircraft in favor of a diverse fleet of more modern aircraft. The Mars can scoop 6,000 gallons from a body of water in 20 seconds and dump it on a fire all at once or in stages. They have also been used extensively on fires in the western U.S.
