Martin Mars

[MrBern]

WWII era flying boat water bombs LA fires

Giant air tanker drops water on Mount Wilson
(AP) – 2 days ago
LOS ANGELES — A giant amphibious air tanker has made a huge water drop on flames on Mount Wilson northeast of Los Angeles.
The World War II-era flying boat bombarded the peak Tuesday to extinguish flames from a sprawling wildfire that could endanger the historic Mount Wilson Observatory and adjacent TV, radio and cell phone towers serving the region.
Firefighters have been working to protect the facilities, including setting backfires.
The tanker is one of a handful of Martin Mars seaplanes built for the Navy in World War II and now in use as firefighting aircraft.
The four-engine airplane with a 200-foot wingspan can scoop up more than 7,000 gallons of water from a lake or the ocean.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

click for LATimes photo:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a53eeb38970b-pi

more info on the plane
http://www.martinmars.com/aircraft.htm

 

[Diamondback]

Well, it's a step in the right direction... I'm surprised they haven't fired up the DC-10 and 747 Supertankers yet!

Mars: 7000 gallons
DC-10: 12,000 gallons
747-200: 20,500 gallons

Upside: Despite having ~1/3-1/2 capacity of the bigger birds and slower speed, the Mars has the advantage of a faster reload from being designed for water-landings. Almost makes one wonder why we so thoroughly destroyed our amphibious-technology capability...