A Tall Order – The final flights of “Philippine Mars” – the last airworthy Martin JRM Mars flying boat

Piloted by Peter Killin “Philippine Mars” takes off for the last time from its longtime home on Sproat Lake, British Columbia, headed to its final destination at the Pima Air Museum in Arizona. (Photo by Mike Kaehler)

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Standing 38 1/2 feet tall with a 200-foot wingspan, a 13 1/2-foot beam and 117 feet long nose to tail, Martin’s JRM Mars was the largest Allied flying boat produced for World War II. Just seven of the mammoth seaplanes were built for the U.S. Navy between 1942 and 1947. But the impression they made on those who flew them, were transported by them or simply saw them over more than eight decades was as...

PARDON THE INTERRUPTION

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