SALUTING THE MARTIN MARS

摘要

There are tall tales and there are true tales, but rarely are there true tall tales. And you haven't seen one of the greatest tall tales in Canadian aviation until you've come out West - way out West, on Vancouver Island, deep in the land of tall timber to the home of the Martin Mars, the world's largest water bomber. The origin of the Mars stretches back to the dawn of aviation and Glen L. Martin. An early business partner of the Wright Brothers, Martin taught William Boeing how to fly and sold him his first airplane. In the era following the Great War when airports were few and far between, the flying boat was king. Martin started building flying boats for the U.S. Navy and then was contracted by Pan American Airways to design and build a flying boat for mail and passenger service. The result was the China Clipper, which served an 8,200-mile route stretching from San Francisco to Manila, via Hawaii, Midway, Wake and Guam. The leg from San Francisco to Hawaii alone was 2,410 miles over the open ocean.