We were only a couple doors down from the Water Bomber base and everyday we saw Hawaii Mars out in the lake. We went for a look in their museum, and Sox, Elliot and I went for a tour on Phillipine Mars. What was really interesting about this visit was that
Elliot has a book about the story of Hawaii Mars. The plane is named
Martin in the book. In the book there were lots of other characters based on other base vehicles. Wandering around Elliot and I spied many of the characters in the book. Our tour guide even had a role in the book. It was pretty fun. Here is their website.
On one of our first days there, the base personnel took Hawaii Mars out for a short flight. I never got to see it take off, but they landed right in front of our cabin.
To give a little perspective on how big the plane is, here is the co-pilot sticking out of the front hatch, ready to fasten the plane to a buoy.
These next few pictures are from the tour.
My son standing behind the nose hatch I talked about earlier.
Sox and Elliot in the pilot seat.
The engineers station.
Thumbs up for a good water drop.
Stepping into one of these flying boats is like stepping back in time. I had not expected to see a metal and wood desk. There were two of these. This one was for the navigator, and the other was for the radio operator.
Silly time on the beach.
A few sunset shots.
