A World War II-era bomber that made a big splash at Lake Elsinore over the summer is slated to fly home to Canada today or tomorrow or possibly wing its way to Australia where it would help fight down under wildfires.

With it departs a hospitable crew – and a phalanx of equipment – that many residents and city officials have adopted as close friends and neighbors in recent months.

Since July 11, the Coulson Air Tanker fire team has been stationed along the lake’s north side. Many residents have spotted the company’s Hawaii Mars plane – which boasts a 200-foot wingspan and a 120-foot body – on the lake or flying to blazes that included the Station Fire that burned more than 127,000 acres in the Mount Baldy area in September.

Some residents – through community groups and by other arrangements – were able to tour the plane during its Lake Elsinore stay.

The plane can scoop up 7,200 gallons of water in each 32-second gulp. As part of its federal contract, the plane drew many of its firefighting drops from Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet.

It is the only plane and company that – because of the gel it mixes with water – that has been certified to drop onto homes and structures. The Coulson team is also the only airborne crew that video tapes each fire and record the action as it unfolds. The crews then share their information with the ground crews and the U.S. Forest Service.

The city of Lake Elsinore received a fee for the plane’s use of the lake.

Some visitors might have missed the full scope of the Coulson family’s operations. The contingent includes a 53-foot former NASCAR trailer that was converted into a maintenance station, a crane truck, a fuel truck, an S-76 helicopter, and a 45-foot bus used for sleeping quarters.

Many visitors were awed by the water plane’s blend of history and technology.

The plane was designed and built in the WWII era. It has always been used for heroic purposes; from Advertisement

MJP Investments carrying cargo and wounded soldiers in the Korean War (up to 123 stretchers could fit on the plane) to its new mission as a fire plane.

Its purpose as a fire plane came about in 1980 when the Coulson logging company had a fire and Wayne Coulson watched the Martin Mars put it out with two water drops. From that moment on, the massive plane was viewed as a key firefighting asset.

Before long, the plane had logged more than 4,000 fires with the British Columbia Forest Service and the forest industry. The next logical step for the Mars was to become involved in fighting fires where it was needed most.

Stationed first in California in 2007, a time in which it visited Lake Elsinore for the first time, the plane and its crew now works hand in hand with key firefighting agencies.

Although the plane was designed for service in WW II, it utilizes the most sophisticated technology available. It was retrofitted and equipped with infrared cameras so the crew can see through smoke. That technology allows the plane and its crew to avoid wind-related hazards that can bedevil aerial firefighters throughout Southern California.

The Coulson Group is owned and operated by Wayne Coulson, his wife Suzan, and son Britt. A 14-person crew has been based in Lake Elsinore.

Besides fighting fires, crew members have amassed experience as helicopter-based loggers, off-shore oil drillers, casino operators and supporters of numerous environmental charities and nonprofit groups. The owners and crew members enmeshed themselves in the community and many of its activities.

They spoke at the Elsinore Woman’s Club Nov. 12 meeting and gave tours of the plane. One of the tour recipients was a disabled veteran who was a medical passenger on the plane during the Korean War. 

Suzan Coulson wrote a children’s book about the Martin Mars water plane being stationed in Lake Elsinore. It is available at the company’s Web site: www.coulsongroup.com. The team will also play a role in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.