12/29/2006

Associated Press

A U.S. museum is among those seeking to buy the only two giant Martin Mars seaplanes left in the world.

"There (have) been several bids," says Steve Lorimer, a spokesman for lumber giant TimberWest Forest Corp., which owns the aircraft that have been used as water bombers in British Columbia forests for decades. "We'll have a short list by the end of January."

Vancouver-based TimberWest announced last month it would sell the two mammoth planes based at Sproat Lake near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.

"Over the years, the company has put significant resources into upgrading these planes," said TimberWest President Paul McElligott. "They will be attractive to those parties whose business interests are suited to operating these types of aircraft."

As part of the conditions of sale, TimberWest said it will require that one of the planes be donated to Port Alberni upon retirement from active service to become a heritage attraction.

The Glenn L. Martin Aviation Museum in Baltimore, Md., has been raising money to buy the aircraft. They were built at the nearby Glenn L. Martin Middle River plane plant in 1942-43.

The Martin Mars is the largest seaplane ever put into production. Howard Hughes's prototype Spruce Goose was bigger but only made one brief flight.

Boasting a 200-foot wingspan — just 11 feet shy of the wingspan of a Boeing 747-400 — the Mars was designed during World War II as a long-distance transport and troop carrier. Only five were completed before the war ended in 1945.

For the last 40 years, the two planes have fought forest fires throughout British Columbia. Converted into water bombers, they can hold more than 7,100 gallons of water — enough to cover about 3.7 acres in a single dump.

TimberWest said it costs more than $3 million a year to operate the two planes.

The Port Alberni City Council says the loss of the bombers would be an economic blow to the region. Closing their maintenance base would mean the loss of 20 jobs.