If I recall correctly, the 2 Mars aircraft were only used a few times down here in the states. They mostly worked fires in Canada, in locations where there were large lakes nearby. The forte of the Mars is not only their ability to carry a lot of water, but their ability to scoop it up from a lake during a touch & go landing (aka a "splash and dash" for the seaplane pilots among us). Because she could pick up water "on the fly", the Mars had a HUGE (as Bernie would say) advantage over other air tankers. She didn't need to land at an airport, shut down and have retardant pumped aboard, then start up, take off and fly back to the fire. She could drop, dash to the nearest big lake, pick up another load during a quick touch & go, and be back on station very quickly. Her biggest disadvantage is maneuverability. She's a big boat, and she doesn't maneuver like a fighter. The one and only accident they ever had was back in the early 60s, when the Marianas Mars was making a "bomb run" on fire in a canyon and the water release mechanism failed. With the heavy load still on board, she didn't have the climb performance to outclimb the terrain and hit the side of a mountain with pretty disastrous results.
After that incident, the Mars were always led into battle by a smaller, Grumman Goose amphibian, with a Mars-qualified pilot on board. Someone always scouted the target area to ensure that the run-in and escape routes would be safe for the airplane. Because they were never flown super aggressively, it is unlikely that the surviving Mars have big problems with fatigue like the many of the surplus DOD airplanes that were under contract to the US Forest Service clearly did. Many of those were retired after two catastrophic break-ups, including the PB4Y and a C-130A. They had really been used and abused. My understanding is that the Mars have been much more well-cared-for and used far less.
WRT the flight deck, it appears as if Coulson has installed Aspen Avionics glass displays to replace the old steam gauges. Once you go glass, you feel naked with the round dials. The Engineer's panel still appears to be a round-dial affair. On older aircraft like that, with big, round engines, the Engineer plays a very large role in their operation. The pilot only handles the engines during take-off, landing and during maneuvering, so he doesn't need all of the engine gauges up on the flight deck. In this case however, the Engineer's panel is not right behind the pilot and copilot seats. I would love to ride on a flight and see how the cockpit communications work with that layout.
/Kevin Madore
