|
Republic RC-3 Seebee Recovered
from Lake Washington
In
1991, designed mainly as a proof of concept salvage mission, a Republic
Seabee was recovered from Lake Washington. Submerged south
of
Interstate 90 off the East End of Mercer Island, the plane was
discovered, documented, and recovered from a depth of 73 feet.
The
Seabee was found upside down with the wheels extended as if it had been
parked on land. Little is known about how or when the plane ended up in
the lake. It’s likely that the plane was parked at a nearby airfield
and blown into the lake. Another scenario could have the plane
attempting a water landing. With the wheels down, the plane may have
flipped. from: ReachOne |
|
The
fuselage of this aircraft is supported by lilfting bags. In
thebackground the East Channel Bridge of Interstate 90. |
Here
Robert Mester rides on the tail of the Seabee, the recovery mission a
success! |
This four-seat single engine amphibian was designed as
a low-cost utilitarian sport airplane. About 1,200 of these seaplanes
were built from 1946 to 1948. There are still as many as 500 in service
around the world. Restored Seabees are worth $50,000 to $60,000. The
Seabee is an all metal, shoulder mounted
wing, amphibious flying boat. It has a pusher engine mounted
behind the cabin. It has a conventional landing gear with a tail wheel
and a
wheel track of 8 feet. Access to the Seabee is through a side door on
each side
of the cabin and through a bow hatch. It has a large baggage
compartment aft of
the rear seats. On many Seabees, the forward seat backs can fold down
to
provide a sleeping bed for two. The RC-1 prototype was a Percival H.
Spencer
design that had a 175 horsepower Franklin
engine. The RC-3 Seabee was granted an Approved Type Certificate in
1946 and
shutdown production in November of 1947 after only 11 months.
One thousand one hundred Seabees were built of which 350 are still
registered
with the FAA. from:
Seaplanes.org.
Crew:
1 pilot, 3 passengers Max
takeoff weight: 3,150 lb
Length: 27 ft 10.5 in Wingspan: 37 ft 8 in Height: 10 ft 1 in Maximum speed: 148 mph Range: 520 miles Service ceiling: 12,000 ft Rate of climb: 700 ft/min<> |
|
Member
