The same year it was announced that "Philippine Mars" would be acquired by the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, to be put on permanent display there.

[1] The first, named Hawaii Mars, was delivered in June 1945, but with the end of World War II the Navy scaled back their order, buying only the five aircraft which were then on the production line.

[3] The last production airplane (the Caroline Mars) was designated JRM-2, powered by 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, and featured a higher maximum weight and other improvements.

The remaining "Big Four" flew record amounts of Naval cargo on the San Francisco-Honolulu route efficiently until 1956, when they were beached at NAS Alameda.

[5] The Marianas Mars crashed near Northwest Bay, British Columbia, on 23 June 1961 during firefighting operations; all four crew members were lost.

Just over a year later, on 12 October 1962 while parked onshore at the Victoria airport, the Caroline Mars was damaged beyond repair by Typhoon Freda when she was blown 200 metres/yards, breaking her back.

Flying Tankers Inc. flew the water bombers to hot spots around the province when a need developed, such as in August 2003, when a large forest fire threatened the outskirts of Kelowna, British Columbia.

[8] On 13 April 2007, TimberWest announced the sale of both aircraft to Coulson Forest Products, a local forestry company in Port Alberni, British Columbia.

[9] As of 13 August 2009[update], the Hawaii Mars was in service fighting the La Brea Fire east of Santa Maria in Southern California.

[12] After many delays, the trade deal of transferring the aircraft to the museum was put on hold by the Navy in June 2016, pending the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election.

Although Coulson has stated that the Hawaii Mars has been under numerous recent upgrades to make it safer and more reliable,[14] no buyers have come forward to purchase the aircraft.

Coulson also cautioned against any plans to open the aircraft as a tourist attraction, citing the 2013 closure of the Flying Tankers Bomber Base Museum from poor attendance.

This was done using the Martin Mars to evaluate against civil certification regulations by the International Test Pilots School on how to handle such a large amphibious aircraft.

[24] On 25 April 2024, Coulson Aviation announced that Philippine Mars would be donated to the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

[25] On 4 June 2024, Coulson Aviation announced that they would offer two tiers of "VIP Experience Packages" to paying customers wishing "to get up close and personal with their Martin Mars water bombers.

On 10 August 2024, Hawaii Mars was flown around the Beaufort Range and Comox Glacier accompanied by a Short Skyvan photo ship.

[31] In the following days, the aircraft was carefully jacked onto a custom-built 360-degree swivelling trailer, and on 21 August was transported from the coast guard station to a parking spot at British Columbia Aviation Museum.

[32][33] On September 20, 2024, The BC Aviation Museum hosted a private ribbon cutting ceremony honouring Hawaii Mars and the "monumental efforts by all involved to bring the aircraft to its forever home".

[36] On 11 December 2024, Philippine Mars departed Sproat Lake for supposedly the final time, en route to San Francisco.

As the aircraft neared Port Townsend, Washington, a sudden loss of oil pressure in the #4 (right outboard) engine necessitated an immediate in-flight shutdown.

Philippine Mars was seen flying over San Juan Island with its #4 engine shut down and propeller feathered as it returned to Patricia Bay.

About midway through the journey, Philippine Mars was joined by two vintage aircraft, a privately registered Howard DG15 (N858H) and a PBY Vultee 28 Catalina (N9767, owned by Soaring by the Sea Foundation of Eugene, Oregon).

Following a successful landing in San Fransisco Bay, the aircraft was towed to a mooring buoy at the Alameda Seaplane Base, to await its final planned flight to an undisclosed lake, where it is due to be disassembled at its factory assembly joints and transported the remaining distance to Pima Air & Space Museum by road.

The aircraft flew outbound over the Golden Gate Bridge and followed the coast past Santa Cruz and Monterey before flying inland toward its final destination of Lake Pleasant, Arizona.