Having been born in Powell River, Coulson Aviation Martin Mars pilot Peter Killin will be flying past his birthplace during the last flight of the huge water bomber, planned for Sunday, August 11.
The Mars, originally built as a water-borne air freighter during the Second World War, served as an air tanker from 1960 to 2015, dropping more than 50 million gallons on forest fires. The huge aircraft will be flying from its base at Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, to the BC Aviation Museum in Victoria, with a planned flypast of the qathet region on its final flight.
Reached on August 1, Killin said the Mars had flown for the first time that day, after weeks of preparatory work to get it airborne again.
“We have an issue to clean up, but the crews are working on it,” said Killin. “We should be back in the air to finish the flight testing that we need to do tomorrow. We went around Sproat Lake and then landed right back in.”
For Mars enthusiasts, Coulson Aviation had been offering the opportunity for passengers to go on some high-speed taxiing on the lake to get a feel for the venerable water bomber. Killin said Coulson had been taking six to eight passengers on runs for the last two weeks.
“We basically do a full pre-flight, run up and checks,” said Killin. “We head to the west and turn around. Then, we give them a high-speed taxi back to the dock.”
When asked about whether it has been a popular activity, Killin said: “Nobody’s gone away mad.”
Killin said the last time he flew the Mars in this territory was in 2015, when there was a fire just behind Powell River Airport. He said he picked up water at Black Point, heading toward Grief Point, and then took the payload around by the airport.
“We turned on final just north of the airport there and dropped on the fire, which was put out,” said Killin.
He began piloting the Mars in 2001. His last flight, until August 1, was in 2016.
“I’ve worked on it a lot over the years,” said Killin. “You get to know the airplane. It’s good to get back to it.”
Killin said he has a little over 1,000 hours logged flying in the Mars. While Coulson Aviation has a fleet of other fixed-wing aircraft used for firefighting, Killin said he has only flown the Mars, plus what is known as the bird dog aircraft that leads the Mars into fire zones, making sure it is safe to drop.
“You make sure it’s safe for the Mars to go down into the smoke and you make sure there are no obstacles,” said Killin. “We drop 200 feet above the canopy.”
The Mars has a huge water payload of 6,000 gallons, which it picks up by skimming over a body of water. Tubes are lowered into the water, which is forced into holding tanks in the hull of the Mars.
Killin has been a pilot for more than 50 years, soloing in 1973. He took his flight training in Terrace and Nanaimo. He received his commercial rating in 1980 after having flown for seven years as a private pilot.
When asked what prompted him to go into commercial aviation, Killin said that was his intention all along.
His first professional flying was done in Tofino, flying float planes, which is all he has ever flown. He has spent thousands of hours aloft in aircraft such as the de Havilland Beaver, Otter and Twin Otter, which are the backbone of Canadian outdoors travel.
In terms of his transition to the Mars from the smaller aircraft, Killin said it wasn’t difficult.
“Gravity works the same for all of them,” said Killin.
When he received his endorsement to fly the Mars, he spent some time in the co-pilot’s seat, learning to do all the “crazy stuff that you have to do to be a firefighting Mars pilot.” The Mars is a huge aircraft, and heavy on the controls, but Killin said he guesses that he had the right stuff.
“It’s a very complex aircraft,” added Killin. “It flies like an old DeSoto with the power steering not working.”
For those hoping to see the flypast along the Powell River shore, Killin said the Mars is scheduled to be in Victoria at 6 pm on August 11, so he anticipates the Powell River flyby will be between 4:30 and 5 pm.
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