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49-555: The Republic Seabee was built between 1946 and 1948, with over 1000 aircraft being sold. The type was rather underpowered and many were later fitted with more powerful engines than the 215 hp (160 kW) Franklin 6A8 originally fitted. In 1960, former Helio company engineer Joseph W. Gigante (1916-2012) designed a twin-engine conversion of the Sea Bee and founded United Consultants Corp in Norwood , Massachusetts , to undertake

98-672: A climb rate of 4,000 ft (1,200 m) per minute, the aircraft would have been an exceptional interceptor. Unfortunately, it was capable of carrying no more fuel than the P-43, and the Double Wasp engine was far more thirsty, significantly limiting the aircraft's range. As the air war in Europe progressed, the Army was discovering that what it really needed was a long-range fighter capable of escorting bombers into Germany. Alexander Kartveli

147-513: A design competition for a new United States Army Air Corps fighter, and was awarded its first military contract in 1936 for the production of its Seversky P-35 . In 1939, Seversky Aircraft again entered in a military fighter competition, this time with the much-improved AP-4. While the contract was awarded to the Curtiss P-40 , the USAAC was impressed with the high-altitude performance of

196-455: A former Republic P-47 test pilot. He convinced the Republic board of the need for a light sport plane to meet a demand for private aircraft from pilots returning from World War II. The expected sales of 5,000 Seabees a year never materialized, as most returning pilots never flew again, though Republic did manage to sell 1,060 Seabees in two years of production. This was a respectable number at

245-573: A helicopter division, building the French Aérospatiale Alouette II helicopter under license, with marginal sales success. In an effort to keep the company going, Republic proposed converting a wartime-developed four-engine reconnaissance aircraft (the XF-12 Rainbow ) into a transport aircraft. The aircraft would be very fast for a prop plane, but interest from airlines was not sufficient to continue development of

294-532: A number that is increasing yearly as new aircraft are assembled from parts and wrecks. A few Seabees are still operating commercially as bush planes and air taxis. Twenty-three Seabees were converted to a twin-engine variant known as the United Consultants Twin Bee with the fitting of two wing-mounted engines driving tractor propellers. The added thrust greatly enhanced the plane's speed, acceleration and capacity. Modifications to increase

343-485: A result, many small and optimistic aircraft companies appeared, then quickly disappeared in the immediate postwar years. On October 4, 1947, Republic Aviation Corp. announced that it was discontinuing production of the RC-3 Seabee amphibian for the personal plane market. Republic President Mundy I. Peale stated: "Due to the need of all Republic's production facilities for the manufacture of other types of airplanes,

392-509: A time when many small aircraft manufacturers were producing only a handful of aircraft before going bankrupt. Much of this was due to the Seabee's remarkably low price of just $ 3,500 to $ 6,000. In 1946, Republic again turned its attention to military contracts, developing a single-engine jet fighter to meet an Army requirement for a fighter with a top speed of 600 mph (970 km/h). The first YP-84A Thunderjet flew on February 28, 1946, but

441-653: A unique boxlike forward cabin; a high wing with a two-bladed propeller in pusher configuration; and a long, slender tail boom. In December 1941 Spencer put the Air Car into storage and joined the war effort as a test pilot for the Republic Aircraft Corporation. In April 1943 Spencer left Republic Aircraft to join the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago, Illinois who wanted to use his Air Car to promote their company. Spencer used

490-680: The A-10 Thunderbolt II , which first flew in May 1972. In addition to the continued front-line use of the A-10, a number of flying and static restorations have served to sustain public awareness of Republic's role in aviation history. The American Airpower Museum , which is based on the former Republic factory site in Farmingdale, New York , maintains a collection of Republic artifacts, historic facilities, and an array of aircraft spanning

539-558: The P-47 Thunderbolt . The USAAF refused to give Republic any money for the development of the new XP-47B, so Republic paid for the construction of the first mock-up, reusing the cockpit area of the P-43. By the time the prototype was ready for testing, it weighed over 12,550 lb, 900 lb (410 kg) over the Army's limit for the new fighter design, and far more than any single-engine fighter ever developed. It also could carry only 298 gallons of fuel, 17 gallons less than

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588-929: The RF-84F Thunderflash was developed from the F-84F, and 715 were produced. The final straight-wing version, known as the F-84G, was a holdover design for Republic while the J-65 engine for the swept wing F-84F was still being developed. The F-84F would continue in service with Air National Guard units until 1971, when corrosion forced them to be withdrawn from U.S. service. The F-84F and RF-84F were both used by several foreign operators including Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Denmark (one squadron of RF-84F that were phased out in 1971). The F-84F continued to serve in European air forces until

637-637: The Republic Aircraft Corporation . The RC-3 Seabee was designed by Percival Hopkins "Spence" Spencer . An aviation pioneer who first soloed in a powered airplane in 1914, he designed the Spencer S-12 Air Car Amphibian . Construction of the S-12 began on March 1, 1941 and the small, two-seat S-12 prototype, registered NX29098, made its first flight on August 8, 1941. The S-12 was a fabric covered amphibian with

686-571: The Wright R-2600 . Despite possessing 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW), this engine could not be turbo-supercharged and Republic finally modified the design again, this time to accommodate the enormous Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine, which produced 1,850 horsepower (1,380 kW). The resulting aircraft, now known as the P-44, was truly impressive. Capable of speeds of 404 mph (650 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m), and

735-648: The 1980s. In 1951, Alexander Kartveli began to design a replacement for the F-84 Thunderjet. The new aircraft would be a single-engine fighter, but larger than any single-engine fighter ever designed for the Air Force. By the time the mock-up was completed in October 1953, the aircraft had grown so large that a more powerful engine was needed; the Pratt & Whitney J75 was finally selected. On June 28, 1954,

784-766: The AP-4 and ordered 13 additional aircraft for testing, as the XP-43 . By April 1939, the Seversky Aircraft Corporation had lost $ 550,000, and Seversky was forced out of the company he had founded. The board, led by financier Paul Moore , voted W. Wallace Kellett to replace him as president, and in September 1939 the company was reorganized as the Republic Aviation Corporation . Seversky continued to fight for his company, and

833-504: The Air Force placed an order for 15 of the new F-105A Thunderchief . The aircraft weighed 50,000 lb (23,000 kg), but could carry up to 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of bombs and missiles, and could fly at Mach 1 at sea level and Mach 2 at altitude. Although it had only one engine, the F-105 could carry a larger bomb load than a four-engine World War II bomber, and travel a greater distance at much higher speed. The F-105 would become

882-622: The F-105G, known as " Wild Weasel ", was later developed to replace the "Wild Weasel" version of the F-100 . The first F-105G flew on January 15, 1966, and deliveries began arriving in Southeast Asia in June 1966. This version continued operating in theater long after the ground attack versions had been withdrawn and was still in service at the end of the war. In December 1957, Republic developed

931-468: The Navy granted Republic Aviation the rights to use the name Seabee for the civilian version. The Army placed a large order for the aircraft, to be used for air-sea rescue operations under the designation OA-15. In September 1945, following VJ Day, both the Army and Navy canceled their orders, which by that time totaled over $ 20,000,000. The OA-15 Seabee was the last United States Army Air Corps aircraft to use

980-769: The OA designation, which was dropped when the US Air Force was formed as a separate military branch in 1947. Military operators included the Israeli Air Force, Paraguayan Navy, the United States Army Air Forces and Republic of Vietnam Air Force. In order to meet the anticipated postwar demand for civilian light aircraft, Republic endeavored to build the Seabee as inexpensively as possible, while still retaining reasonable performance and range. A lot of thought went into eliminating what were at

1029-627: The P-47 would be the P-47N, a long-range version with longer wings and fuselage , and an increased fuel capacity. The P-47N was designed to escort B-29s on long missions to Japan for a planned invasion of the Japanese homeland that never came. Production of all versions ended in November 1945. By then, 15,660 P-47s had been built, making it the most produced U.S. fighter of the war. Of those, 1,816 would be

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1078-570: The Republic design using a turbosupercharger . In the end, neither design showed a significant improvement over the P-40, and neither was produced. Further development of the P-43 continued in the form of a lightweight version using a Pratt & Whitney R-2180 radial engine . The resulting aircraft was known as the XP-44. When the R-2180 did not produce the expected horsepower , Republic switched to

1127-456: The aircraft and the project was cancelled. Republic Aviation made one last attempt to survive by returning to military contracts. In 1960, Republic Aviation acquired a minority interest in the Dutch aircraft company Fokker , and attempted to market a Fokker-designed attack plane ( Fokker/Republic D-24 Alliance variable sweep wing VTOL) to the Air Force, but the Air Force showed little interest in

1176-693: The aircraft has STOL takeoff and landing ability. 15 of the 23 conversions were currently registered in the United States in April 2009. Other examples are active in Switzerland and the Philippines. Data from Aerofiles General characteristics Performance Related development Republic Seabee The Republic RC-3 Seabee is an all-metal amphibious sports aircraft designed by Percival Spencer and manufactured by

1225-585: The aircraft was plagued with so many developmental problems that the first F-84B didn't enter Air Force service until 1949. The straight-wing F-84D would go on to become an important aircraft during the Korean War, flying 86,408 missions. In 1949, a swept-wing version, the F-84F Thunderstreak , was developed but additional development and engine problems resulted in the aircraft not entering service until 1954. A photo-reconnaissance version known as

1274-541: The assembly line at Republic's factory in Farmingdale, New York and on December 1 made its first flight in Farmingdale with Spencer at the controls. On December 27, 1945, Republic Aviation purchased Aircooled Motors, manufacturers of the Franklin engine, to supply and build engines for the RC-3 Seabee. In March, 1946, the first production RC-3 Seabee was completed (NC87457, formerly NX87457, and on July 25, 1946

1323-476: The company has decided to discontinue production of the Seabee". Actually, by summer (July/August) 1947 the Seabee sales had almost stalled and since June 1947 the production had been put on hold, awaiting further sales. By the end of production a respectable 1,060 Seabees had been built. Though this was far from the 5,000 Seabees per year Republic had hoped to sell, it still represented a significant number of airplanes compared to other struggling aircraft companies of

1372-599: The company's wood forming equipment to build a new egg-shaped cabin for the Air Car and began demonstrating the aircraft to his former employers, Republic Aircraft. Seeing the potential of the Air Car as the perfect sports plane for pilots returning from the war, Republic purchased the rights to the Air Car in December 1943 and immediately began development of an all-metal version designated the Model RC-1 Thunderbolt Amphibian. On November 30, 1944

1421-549: The demand for civilian aircraft had shown itself to be far less than anticipated and the company turned its attention back to military contracts, developing the successful F-84 Thunderjet , which was built on the same assembly lines formerly used to build the Seabee. Seabees became popular in Canada and the US and were also well-suited for operation in countries with long coastlines, many islands and lakes and large areas of wilderness. By

1470-570: The early P-43's lack of self-sealing fuel tanks and armor. He declined to retain the plane for his crews. In 1939, both Republic and Curtiss participated in an Army competition to develop a lightweight interceptor . Curtiss submitted a lightweight version of the P-40 designated the XP-46 while Republic submitted a similar design designated the XP-47. Both designs were based on a lightweight aircraft built around an Allison V-1710 V-12 engine, with

1519-683: The engine size, wingspan, cargo carrying capacity, controls, trim activation, environmental systems, landing light and many others have been available since the early 1970s. The Seabee is popular with air charter companies and small feeder airlines and is operated by private individuals and companies. Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1947 General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era [REDACTED] Media related to Republic Seabee at Wikimedia Commons Republic Aviation The Republic Aviation Corporation

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1568-469: The first RC-1 Thunderbolt Amphibian, registered NX41816, made its first flight with Spencer at the controls. The aircraft was displayed in St Louis, Missouri , in December and by the end of 1944 Republic had received 1,972 civilian orders for the $ 3,500 airplane. The aircraft was also demonstrated to the U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps . Both services were impressed with the design and on February 19, 1945

1617-513: The first Seabee (NC87463, production #13) was delivered at the Republic factory to J.G. (Tex) Rankin of Rankin Aviation Industries of Tulare, California . In the late 1940s, aircraft manufacturers hoped that military pilots returning from the war would want to continue flying civilian aircraft for pleasure and sport. This never occurred to the extent the companies imagined, as most wartime pilots returned home never to fly again. As

1666-554: The foreign design and no contracts were offered. In the early 1960s, the aerospace company Fairchild , owned by Sherman Fairchild , began purchasing Republic's stock and finally acquired Republic Aviation in July 1965. In September, Republic became the Republic Aviation Division of Fairchild Hiller and ceased to exist as an independent company. Republic's naming system was carried forward by Fairchild Hiller with

1715-458: The history of the company. The museum counts itself among the few worldwide that actually maintain and fly historic aircraft, and it counts an original Republic P-47D fighter among its airworthy fleet. The museum's static displays include a Republic F-84 first generation jet fighter, an F-84F swept-wing fighter, a rare example of the RF-84F reconnaissance variant, and an F-105 Thunderchief. In 2014,

1764-511: The long-range P-47N model. This model would continue to serve with Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units until the mid-1950s. Republic ranked 24th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. In 1946, Republic temporarily left the field of military contracts to produce the Republic RC-3 Seabee , an unusual all-metal amphibian . The Seabee was the brainchild of Percival "Spence" Spencer,

1813-541: The manufacturing work on the UC-1 Twin Bee. The first aircraft flew in 1962 and the type certificate was awarded on 25 June 1965. 23 production examples were delivered between 1965 and 1987. The UC-1 is a major conversion of the RC-3 Seabee airframe. The single pusher engine is deleted and this allows an additional fifth seat to be fitted beneath the old installation. The twin 180 hp (134 kW) Lycoming engines, mounted in tractor configuration , are fitted in

1862-693: The matter was not resolved to his satisfaction until September 1942. Meanwhile, Seversky's AP-4 continued in development, finally going into production as the P-43 Lancer . 272 P-43s were eventually produced, with 108 of them being sent to China to be used against the Japanese. Many passed through the hands of the AVG Flying Tigers , whose pilots were pleased with the plane's performance at altitudes up to 30,000 ft (9,100 m), while their P-40s were ineffective at altitudes over 20,000 ft (6,100 m). Perhaps Claire Chennault disliked

1911-601: The museum added an A-10 Warthog, completing the collection of Republic fighters. The museum's volunteer corps includes both former Republic line workers and Air Force veterans with direct Republic Aviation flight experience. During the fall of 1987, Fairchild Corporation (then Republic's parent company) destroyed Republic's corporate archives. Joshua Stoff, the curator of the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island , wrote in Air & Space Magazine that, upon being invited to have

1960-617: The primary ground attack aircraft of the Vietnam War , flying over 20,000 missions until replaced by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in November 1970. Of the 833 F-105s produced, 397 were lost during the Vietnam War. Seventeen were shot down by North Vietnamese MiGs , while most of the rest were lost to ground fire. The F-105 was Republic Aviation's last independent design. A two-seat version,

2009-499: The requirement, but the Army was generally pleased with its performance, achieving speeds of 412 mph (663 km/h) at 25,800 ft (7,900 m), and overlooked these issues. The U.S. entry into the war in December 1941 rapidly increased the need for the XP-47B and work on the plane progressed quickly. In June 1942, the Army took delivery of its first P-47Bs. They soon placed an order that required Republic Aviation to quadruple

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2058-478: The same era. Only Piper, with their cheap, long-lived Cub and Super Cub, Beech's popular Bonanza , and Cessna's early 140 and 120 light planes would sell in numbers greater than the Seabee. This was due in no small part to the very low price of the Seabee. During production, however, the price of the Seabee would rise from its original $ 3,500 to $ 4,495 effective July 15, 1946 and to $ 6,000 on November 15, 1946. Republic sold its last new Seabee in 1948. By that time

2107-460: The size of their factory and build three new runways at the Farmingdale, New York factory. Eventually this proved inadequate, and in November 1942, the Army authorized the construction of a new factory adjacent to the Evansville, Indiana airport. Throughout the war, the P-47 would undergo constant development. A bubble canopy was added to increase rearward visibility. The final version of

2156-559: The time production ended, 108 Seabees had been exported to several countries and dealerships were established in Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Fiji, New Caledona, South Africa, England, Norway and Sweden. From the late 1940s and into the 1950s, the Seabee was a popular bush plane and air ambulance in Canada, Norway, Sweden and the USA. In 2006, over 250 Seabees are still registered and flying,

2205-414: The time termed as 'airplane frills,' resulting in a strong product built with as few parts as possible. For example, Seabees as built did not have ribs in the wings; instead, the heavy corrugated aluminum sheet which formed the skin provided the necessary stiffness. Republic was also willing to buy components in volume, which lowered costs further. On November 22, 1945, the prototype RC-3 (NX87451) came off

2254-606: The wing, fairly close to the cabin. This required the rear cabin windows to be reduced in size, supplemented by a porthole-type window each side of the rear of the enlarged cabin. The rights to the UC-1 design were transferred to the STOL Aircraft Corporation . J.W. Gigante advertised the rights for sale during September 2006. The considerable extra engine power of Twin Bee proved to be attractive to private owners, as

2303-551: Was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale, New York , on Long Island . Originally known as the Seversky Aircraft Company , the company was responsible for the design and production of many important military aircraft, including its most famous products: World War II's P-47 Thunderbolt fighter, the F-84 Thunderjet and F-105 Thunderchief jet fighters. The Seversky Aircraft Company

2352-410: Was called to the Army's Experimental Aircraft division and told of the new requirements, and that the P-44 would not be ordered in its current configuration. This was a devastating setback for Kartveli and Republic Aircraft because Kartveli knew the XP-44 could not be redesigned to meet these new requirements. On the train back to New York City , he began sketching a new design. This aircraft would become

2401-414: Was founded in 1931 by Alexander de Seversky , a Russian expatriate and veteran World War I pilot who had lost a leg in the war. In the beginning, many of Seversky Aircraft's designers were Russian and Georgian engineers, including Michael Gregor and Alexander Kartveli , who would go on to design many of Republic's most famous aircraft. After several failed attempts, Seversky Aircraft finally won

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