https://onedrive.live.com/?id=443CD8DD3A4C471%21420&cid=0443CD8DD3A4C471&group=0&parId=root&authkey=%21APMm3MHgOhfprkI&o=OneUp
A vid of said Mars at Sproat Lake yesterday morning. The geezer in the vid is my brother, a pilot for one of the Canadian airlines - taken by his wife.
For those interested in the engines:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_R-3350_Duplex-Cyclone
I quote from another buddy retied from the airlines & very familiar with this aircraft:
"Trying to find the amount of AvGas and engine oil it needs when away from the Sproat Lake base could be problematic given its considerable fuel & oil consumption numbers. Granted it can carry 7,200 US Gallons of water with Firefoam or ThermaGel added but its time to climb negates the advantage of the big load (liters per hour concept) for Initial Attack especially in the mountains.
It dumps the whole load each time and cannot use partial loads. If salt water, then it is good thing in that there is some salt to help with charring.
The engines leak oil on any water it is parked on. The gas hose is floated out to the aircraft – hope no curious boaters are near when the hose is in the water.
Pretty amazing piece of old technology - I sat in the cockpit of one at Sproat Lake while it was being overhauled - there are some modern upgrades - but it was still a step back in time - & man-o-man - it was flat-out huge - a very cool experience although hitching a ride in one would be an order of magnitude better.
Cheers
JB