Efforts to find a use for both Martin Mars waterbombers aren’t skipping a beat, according to Coulson Group CEO Wayne Coulson.
“There have been some inquiries we’re not interested in pursuing [for the Hawaii Mars] but we have several meetings lined up at Oshkosh,” Coulson said.
The plane is being flown down to Wisconsin for the EAA Airventure Oshkosh air show on Saturday morning and will be there all next week before being flown back to the Alberni Valley in early August.
If those opportunities don’t pan out, Coulson expects that the Ultimate Flying Experience the company is offering—$25,000 for an hour of flight time in the Hawaii Mars—will encourage more potential buyers to come out of the woodwork.
So far, three pilots are confirmed and there are more interested.
“We have three confirmed and 12 in discussion,” said Coulson.
For now, Kermit Weeks, a medal-winning aerobatic pilot and owner of Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida, has been training to fly the Hawaii Mars.
Weeks will fly the plane to Wisconsin on Saturday.
But it’s not only the Hawaii Mars that Coulson is looking to sell.
“We’ve been talking to the Pensacola Naval Museum again,” he said.
“We’ve reopened dialogue.”
The museum has been in talks with Coulson to acquire the Philippine Mars for years but the deal had recently fallen through due to the federal election soon to be happening south of the border in November.
Selling off planes isn’t the only thing on Coulson’s aviation radar—the company is considering expanding to another hangar at the Alberni Valley Regional Airport.
“We’re doing some clearing and preparing of the site by the hangar facility,” Coulson said.
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