Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Four-seat amphibious flying-boat

Power Plant:

One 160 kw (215 hp) Franklin 6A8-215-B8F six-cylinder in-line air-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

In 1941 the S-12 Amphibian Air Car was built in the United States by Percival H Spencer, he having formed Spencer-Larson Aircraft Corp to build a light amphibian. Two prototypes were built and flown, the first, the S-12, in August 1941, having an 82 kw (110 hp) Franklin engine and being a two-seat wooden construction flying boat amphibian, known as the Amphibian Air Car. However, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour shelved production plants for the period of the war.

Spencer then joined Republic Aviation Corp and was offered an opportunity to use the Company’s tooling to refine the design so it could be put into production after the war concluded. He then joined Wendell Miller and worked on the RC-1 (Republic Commercial No 1), a three-seater which was of all metal construction and used a tapered full-cantilever wing.  Power plant was an experimental Franklin engine driving a fixed pitch propeller.  The final design, the Seabee, was a simple, relatively low-cost, four-seat, amphibious flying-boat.

The prototype of the amphibious Seabee, known as the Model RC-1, was flown for the first time in November 1944, powered by a 131 kw (175 hp) Franklin 6ALG-365 six-cylinder engine.  Orthodox methods of construction were employed.  A Hartzell reversible propeller was offered as an option. Development led to the RC-3, the production model of which had been extensively redesigned mainly to reduce the number of components and thus the production cost.  This also resulted in major decreases in structural weight and production man-hours required. However, production ceased in October 1947 to take up the more lucrative construction of military aircraft, and the 1,060 built were far below the break-even point, Republic losing money on every aircraft built.  A number survive in the United States, some being converted to twin engine configuration, an engine being installed on each wing in lieu of the single engine behind the cockpit.

In 1965 United Consultants Corp of Norwood, Massachusetts, converted one to UCC-1 Twin Bee configuration, fitting two 134 kw (180 hp) Lycoming IO-360-B1D engines and making a number of other changes, increasing max speed to 237 km/h (147 mph). Other modifications to overcome the marginal power supply of the Franklin engine were made to the Seabee. One involved the installation of a 220 kw (295 hp) Lycoming engine, this aircraft becoming the Super Seabee.  Supplemental type Certificates were issued for a number of conversions. Eventually rights to the design were passed on to STOL Amphibians Inc of Key Biscayne, Florida. Mr Spencer went on to complete a design known as the Air Car through his company at Sun Valley, California, this being supplied in kit form. At least two examples have been imported to this region (see separate article Spencer Air Car).

Other engine changes have occurred over the years. CF-MYT (c/n 1025) in Canada was fitted with a Turbomeca Aztazou IIL turboprop engine in 1980. In Brazil a company, which operated four examples, fitted a German Argus AS-10C engine of 179 kw (240 hp) to one and a Lycoming GO-435-C20 engine to another.  In the United States examples have been fitted with the Lycoming TIO-540-A2B, IO-540-K and IGSO-480-B1G6.

One example in Canada (C-GNVS (c/n 465) was fitted with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-20 turboprop providing 395 kw (530 shp). Another three in Canada (C-FDOQ, CF-ILM and C-FHQU) and eleven in the United States have been fitted with the General Motors LS-1 or LS-6 eight-cylinder VEE engine producing 239 kw (320 hp) by Robinson V8 Conversions, usually driving two, three or four-blade propellers. In the 1960s at least five were fitted with the Continental IO-470-P engine; and, as noted, at least 23 were converted to twin-engine configuration through what has been called the STOL UC-1 Twin Bee conversion.

In all, three Seabees with construction numbers 416, 668 and 972 have appeared on the Australian Civil Aircraft Register. VH-WWA (c/n 416- ex N6213K) was first registered on 25 July 1959.  Owned by World Wide Air Services, it was painted in a dark brown colour scheme. This aircraft had various owners, including Mr R K Gerakiteys of Maitland, NSW in November 1959, and Commodore Aviation of Port Lincoln, SA, where it was used for tuna spotting.  In October 1962 it went to Dulmison (Aust) Pty Ltd until it was re-registered as VH-MJO on 10 May 1965.  In 1998 it was sold overseas, becoming H4-HSD. However, in 1999 it returned to Australia where it became the fourth aircraft to be registered VH-WET, a registration used a number of times on seaplanes, including a Cessna 185A, a Cessna U206 and a Grumman Widgeon. However, it did not operate for any lengthy period and it was known to be stored at Mackay, QLD.

It was thought its days were at an end when it was submerged in flood waters at Mackay, QLD in February 2008.. In 2013 it turned up in Thailand in a scrapyard in a bogus US Navy paint scheme and sold to the Chokchai Museum, Pak Cheng and had the American registration N64PN painted on the aircraft.

VH-KNA (c/n 668 – ex NC6243K) was imported to Tamworth, NSW in 1957 and first registered on 10 January 1958. It had a number of owners, including W H Kenny of Sunnybank, QLD in 1959, and F A Connell of Bluff Point, WA. It spent some time in New Guinea in the 1960s. It was then in storage at Archerfield, QLD awaiting a rebuild, later going to a new owner at Geraldton, WA.

C/n 972 was imported in 1959, after a short life in India as VT-CSU, being obtained with another example, VT-CST, for a proposed commuter service along the east coast of New South Wales.  However, the latter, which was expectd to become VH-BBK, was destroyed in a hangar fire at Bankstown, NSW before being registered, and only c/n 972 made it on to the register, becoming VH-BBJ with Gold Coast Holdings of Sydney.

In June 1962 the registration was changed to VH-ECZ but on 13 January 1966, whilst flying to Bankstown, it suffered fuel starvation and made a forced landing at Rydalmere, NSW, being damaged beyond repair. But this was not the end of VT-CST.  The fuselage of this aircraft was obtained by, it is believed, a Mr Les Hodge of Callala Bay on the NSW south coast and converted to an aluminium dinghy. This improvised boat survives and, after many years, it was gifted to the Naval Aviation Museum at HMAS Albatross, later making its way to the Lady Denman Ferry Museum at Huskisson, NSW, where it is on display.

Another Seabee noted in this area was N6152K (c/n 340) which at one stage was owned and operated by A-F Helicopter Inc of San Fernando, California. It was first registered on 15 September 1954 but was cancelled from the US register on 1 April 1959.  It was noted in storage at one stage in New Guinea but its final fate is not known.

Because of the age of the Seabee, spare parts for the Franklin engine are rare, and, because of the unreliability of that unit, in recent years, as noted above in Canada, examples have been fitted with a 350 cubic inch General Motors Chevrolet V-8 LS-1 engine driving an MT propeller 1.98 m (78 inch) in diameter which provides 239 kw (320 hp) for take off at 4,400 rpm; or the LS-7 racing engine with a dry-sump which provides 373 kw (500 hp) and a cruising speed of 237 km/h (147 mph), part of the aircraft conversion including electric undercarriage retraction.

In January 2016 a further Seabee arrived in Australia.  This airframe, formerly N6166K (c/n 354), was built in 1947 and spent most of its life operating in Mississippi, Florida and Michigan. It was sold to an Australian, Ian Gramps Goldie of Port Macquarie, NSW and shipped as a project in January 2016 for rebuild. It is to be restored to airworthiness as a long-term project by Gramps Aviation of Camden Haven, NSW, the aircraft to be known after completion with a new type engine as the X-Bee Pelican and to be registered in the Experimental category.