After four engine changes, the Philippine Mars could make its third attempt to head to an Arizona museum this week. Coulson Flying Tanker head Wayne Coulson told Nanaimo News Now that after months of maintenance and the engine swaps it’s now up to the weather to decide the schedule for the ferry flight that will ultimately take it from its home base in Port Alberni on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson. “We’re looking at most likely stopping in San Francisco so that’s kind of the weather down the coast so we’re watching weather in Victoria, Seattle, Portland, and down to Northern California,” he said. “That’s kind of the window that we need to have a clear run at, so that’s what we’re mindful of and making sure we have good weather to move it.”
Last August, the aircraft’s stablemate Hawaii Mars made the short hop from Port Alberni to Victoria where it’s now on permanent display at the B.C. Aviation Museum. In the meantime, a series of engine issues on Philippine Mars ultimately led to the installation of the four airworthy Wright R3350 18-cylinder engines from Hawaii Mars. The four Curtiss Electric propellers were also taken from Hawaii Mars for The plan is to fly down the west coast for an overnight stop in San Francisco before spending a day or two in San Diego with public events and media flights. The massive flying boat, one of seven built as troop and materiel transports for the Navy, will then head to an undisclosed lake in Arizona where it will be disassembled and trucked to Tucson.
The last attempt in early January ended over Port Townsend, Washington with the failure of one engine. The plane turned around and landed in a bay near Victoria before that engine was swapped for a flight back to Port Alberni. There it was reportedly decided to replace the remaining two original engines with the two proven engines remaining on Hawaii Mars. Test flights were done last week.
