Back in the late 1950s, after British Columbia was badly hit by a series of large forest fires, lumber companies decided they needed bigger water bombers than the Otters, Beavers and Avengers in use at the time.

The only snag was that big flying boats were going out of vogue by then, and most had been sold for scrap. However, when pilot Dan McIvor heard that the U.S. Navy planned to sell its huge Martin Mars flying boats, which had been used during World War 11, he immediately set about obtaining them.

Although the Navy had sold their remaining four Martin Mars by the time McIvor found a buyer, the new owner, who had bought them for scrap, agreed to sell them to a consortium of B.C. forest companies—among them McIvor’s employer McMillan Bloedel—for the remarkably generous sum of $100,000.

The aircraft were flown to B.C. in 1959, where they were converted and pressed into service as water bombers in the early 1960s.

With a 200 feet wingspan, the world’s largest flying tankers can scoop up and hold 27,276 litres of water, which can be dropped from either the bottom or the side. They can also hold 2,216 litres of fire retardant foam concentrate. ...

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