Martin Mars

"f86sabre" (f86sabre) 01/27/2019 at 21:34 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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The mechanical joy of flying one of the worlds largest seaplanes. 

Only Vespas... > f86sabre 01/27/2019 at 21:47

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I mean nothing beats the first image:  Approaching the aircraft by boat!

wafflesnfalafel > f86sabre 01/27/2019 at 22:13

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awesome - shows the attention and skill of every single one of those guys

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > f86sabre 01/27/2019 at 22:21

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Amazing!

TheRealBicycleBuck > f86sabre 01/27/2019 at 22:46

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I thought my checklists were long. I have been humbled again.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > f86sabre 01/27/2019 at 23:05

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Weird to see the throttles moving while the engineers are doing stuff, and the pilot and first officer are just paying attention to flying.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > f86sabre 01/28/2019 at 00:06

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These are some seriously cool warbirds, and the fact they’ve been in service up until the last few years, as firefighting aircraft no less, is staggering. Just the sheer size of them is ridiculous. In a setting away from commercial airports, compared to other aircraft you see flying, they look like they’re going so slow they couldn’t possibly stay in the air, simply because they’re so much further away than you think. But watching them scoop and drop is impressive. The volume of water that they’ll bring on board in a short pass is nuts, and the splash it makes when hitting the water is pretty damn cool.

I’m fortunate enough to have lived as a kid where they were based, while they were still seeing regular service, been on Sproat Lake, boated under their wings, etc. It’s a super cool piece of history for sure. Unfortunately they’re just so big that they’re impractical for modern firefighting strategies, and it’s difficult to keep other crews outside a hazardous window. 7200 gallons of water hitting the ground does some serious damage. 

f86sabre > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/28/2019 at 13:02

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Big plane. Big checklist. 

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 01/28/2019 at 14:15

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Are the props turning? Let me stick my head out the hole in the roof and take a look.

That was awesome. Thanks.

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 01/28/2019 at 15:09

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Kermit Weeks is an odd dude, but he has a bunch of cool airplane vids on his channel. 

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 01/28/2019 at 15:15

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I’d like to have lunch with that flight deck crew. I was amazed by how much that guy in the middle knew about what they were doing. It was a fascinating display of teamwork, and brilliantly shows how you don’t just hop into an airplane and go flying. 

Dusty Ventures > f86sabre 01/28/2019 at 15:45

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Still my highlight of Osh 16

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 01/28/2019 at 17:36

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I’m guessing middle dude was the normal copilot. 

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 01/28/2019 at 17:42

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You pointed out Weeks, whom I’ve heard of but didn’t recognize , and then I did some reading about him and figured he was along for a ride. He may have even paid for it. From Wiki:

Inherited oil and gas royalties provide Weeks with the funds, capital and resources to pursue the preservation of historic aircraft.

Must be nice. I also looked up his Fantasy of Flight museum. That’s a very impressive collection.

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 01/28/2019 at 17:45

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Yeah. They have a bunch of stuff. If you are looking for an entertaining video find the one where he inspects everything after a hurricane roles through.