ET’s Seabee

Of all the amphibian aircraft flying in the U.S. today, the Republic RC-3 Seabee is certainly among the most iconic. Its production run only lasted for two years (1946 to 1947), with 1,060 built. Nearly 80 years later, approximately 10% of them are still showing as registered in the FAA database, although perhaps as few as 10% of those are currently airworthy. Many are in various stages of restoration. I was delighted to learn that one particularly attractive Seabee resides nearby at Long Island Airpark (NC26), located in Catawba, North Carolina, owned by Edgar Tello. It turns out that “ET,” as he is universally known, is as colorful a character as his RC-3, N713ET, MSN 765.

Meet ET

Edgar Tello, 66, was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He says, “I started my flying career in the Air Force. After the prerequisite stints flying T-37s and T-38s, I spent the bulk of my Air Force career flying Lockheed C-141 transport jets and training cadets at the Air Force Academy in the T-41, a Cessna 172 with a 210-hp engine. I did that from 1982 to 1989, when I was hired by United Airlines. I continued flying in the Reserves until 1997. I was about 14 when I saw a Seabee featured in the movie The Man with the Golden Gun. I was fascinated by this cool airplane flying in some beautiful scenery, landing on the water, pulling up to the beach, and all that. I decided that when I grew up, I would fly something like that. I saw my first Seabee in the flesh at the 1996 AirVenture in Oshkosh. It was for sale and I kept ogling it until my dear fellow United pilot friend Ana Vegega said ‘ET, you’re an airline pilot, just buy the damn Bee.’ I said ‘I’m an airline pilot, I’m buying the Seabee.’ That’s the one that sold later that night and I ended up buying the one in Long Island, New York. I’ll tell you later what happened to that one. Luckily, I didn’t buy it. That’s another long story.”

Meet the Seabee

Wikipedia states that “The RC-3 Seabee was designed by Percival Hopkins ‘Spence’ Spencer, an aviation pioneer who designed the Spencer S-12 Air Car Amphibian in 1941. The S-12 was a fabric-covered amphibian with a unique boxlike forward cabin; a high wing with a two-bladed pusher propeller and a long, slender tail boom. In December 1941 Spencer put the Air Car into storage and joined Republic Aircraft Corporation as a test pilot. Republic was cranking out P-47s right through the end of WW-II. In fact, the P-47 Thunderbolt was the most produced U.S. fighter airplane of the war, with some 15,600 units built. In April 1943 Spencer left Republic Aircraft to join the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago, Illinois, which wanted to use his Air Car to promote their company. Spencer used the company’s wood forming equipment to build a new egg-shaped cabin for the Air Car and began demonstrating the aircraft to 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 Nov. 30, 1944, the first RC-1 Thunderbolt Amphibian made its first flight. The aircraft was also demonstrated to the U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps. Both services were impressed with the design and on Feb. 19, 1945, 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. However, in September 1945, following V-J Day, both the Army and Navy canceled their orders, which by that time totaled over $20 million.”

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. As a result, many small and optimistic aircraft companies appeared, then quickly disappeared in the immediate postwar years. While Cessna, Piper, and Beech developed successful lines of conventional land-based GA aircraft, some of which could be fitted with pontoons for water operations, Republic rolled the dice on the amphibious RC-3. In order to remain competitive in the anticipated postwar demand for civilian light aircraft, Republic incorporated some innovative ideas in order 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 the time termed “airplane frills,” resulting in a strong product built with as few parts as possible. For instance, in December 1945, Republic Aviation purchased Aircooled Motors, manufacturers of the Franklin engine, to supply and build engines for the RC-3 Seabee. The prototype RC-3 made its maiden flight on Dec. 1, 1945, at Republic’s factory in Farmingdale, New York. ET points out that Spencer Percival originally designed the Seabee with wheels that retracted into the fuselage, but that allowed for only one seat in the back. Instead, he decided to keep the wheels outside the aircraft body to keep the rear fuselage big enough for two people to sit in the back.

Built for Comfort, Not Speed

While arguably more complex and definitely roomier than a Piper Cub, Republic developed the Seabee with emphasis on comfort and affordability, with an initial selling price of $3,500. ET notes that the airplane only has fewer than 500 individual parts, so production was a cookie-cutter operation. Even at that, the anticipated postwar general aviation boom failed to materialize. The target market, primarily pilots returning from military service, didn’t want to come, buy an airplane, or go flying. Instead, they wanted to get married, buy a car, buy a house, have kids, and forget about airplanes. By summer of 1947, Seabee sales had stalled and in June 1947, production ceased. 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 the same era. The final nail in the Seabee’s coffin came in 1948, when the U.S. Air Force awarded a contract for a new jet fighter, the F-84, to Republic. The company promptly dropped everything, including the RC-3, to pour all its resources into building the new Air Force fighter.

Why the Seabee did not enjoy the same level of success as Cessna, Piper, and Beech is a matter of conjecture. ET explains, “The Seabee did not have the same mass appeal of some of the less-complex GA airplanes being sold in the late 1940s. After all, you can take a relatively simple, garden-variety single-engine Cessna or high-wing Piper and swap the wheels with floats or skis as needed. Nevertheless, the Seabee does suit the lifestyle of a certain segment of aircraft owners. Republic figured, ‘What could be better than an airplane that you can land on the water and go fishing, or you can go to a remote lake and go hunting and throw the deer or fish in the airplane, and fly home?’ That was the concept behind marketing the Seabee.”

Pros and Cons

ET also notes that the original engine was the Achilles heel of the Seabee. “The original Franklin 6A8-215-B8F engine was rated at 215 hp (160 kW), which was pretty anemic, especially for water takeoffs. The standard engine was shortly superseded by the 6A8-215-B9F. Engine conversions therefore have been among the most popular of the many modifications developed for the Seabee. The Lycoming GO-480 geared engine conversion rated at 295 hp (217 kW) has become the most popular. This is the engine on my plane.”

On the positive side, he points out one of the best features that was not matched until just recently is the reversible prop on an amphib. “The airplane came out of the factory with a reversible prop that allows you to land on water, come up to a beach or a dock, and when you are done, you put it in reverse, and back out. That ability hasn’t been matched until very recently, so for 60 or 70 years, this was the only amphibian that you could reverse on the water, which tremendously increases safety and versatility.”

ET Meets CB

Fast forward to 1996: ET went to Oshkosh and saw a Seabee for sale. “I contacted the owner, but by that time, he had already sold it. I was determined at this point, so I found another one in Long Island, New York, which I bought. After some training in the New York area, I headed out west. I got as far as Santa Fe, New Mexico, when I hit a strong wind shear. The Seabee just couldn’t handle it. I crashed, and the Seabee was destroyed.” It was an inauspicious start for someone who would, years later, be recognized as one of the community’s leading Seabee experts.

Despite this start, ET realized how much he loved the Seabee, and immediately began searching for another one. He found his Seabee in a small town called Chuckey, Tennessee, close to Greeneville, Tennessee. Seabee #765 first flew in April 1947 under its original registration, NC6499K (later N6499K). It was officially delivered from Republic Aviation Corp. to Buffalo Aeronautical Corp., Buffalo, New York, on May 6, 1947. It passed through several owners before being bought by Mr. Edmond F. Freeman in 1987. By the time ET found the plane, it had been abandoned, and it didn’t have the wings or the tail attached. Freeman and his partner, Steve Hensley, were going to cut it up and stretch the cabin to make it a six-seater with the Corvette engine. He reflects, “They actually had a mockup there that I saw that looked really cool, because the airplane was kind of egg-shaped. The 18-inch fuselage plug made it look more aesthetically attractive, if you can call it that!”

The two gentlemen working on the conversion both developed serious medical challenges. Freeman passed away from liver cancer, and Hensley developed brain tumors, and they abandoned the conversion idea. Instead, in the summer of 1997, ET began putting the Seabee back together under Hensley’s direction. He finally got it flying. It was in rough shape all around … the paint, the interior, everything, but it flew. He made an offer and bought it in December 1997. Tello was based in San Francisco at the time, so he ferried it to Sonoma, California, and then spent the next three years having it restored.

ET says, “My plane came with several important mods. First of all, the throttle quadrant had been relocated to the cockpit ceiling, thus eliminating about ten feet of control cable. It originally had a locking tailwheel, and mine was modified to have a steerable tailwheel. There are different philosophies of that. Some people love the locking tailwind, because it helps to prevent ground loops. Personally, I like the steering, because it gives me more control down the runway. The big thing on my mind is that I have Q-tip blades on the GO-480 engine, which means they’re bent on the tips, and that supposedly cuts down a little bit on the noise and vortices. The backbone was developing cracks because my blades are so close to the fuselage, creating almost supersonic flow back. With the STOL wingtips, my Seabee actually stalls at 38 mph.”

ET comments, “The Bee was restored by Ken Thompson, a very talented mechanic who was a prior E-2 Hawkeye Navy pilot. He did all the cool stuff that you see in the airplane. He’s responsible for that, as well as getting everything approved. A major mod was adding STOL curved fiberglass wingtips. The airplane came, of course, with a straight wing. Some airplanes were delivered with a ‘splate,’ a big flat plate that runs from the leading to the trailing edge of the wing. It controls the wingtip vortices and maybe gives you a little more speed. He did so many small and detailed things. He custom-made all the interior panels and added all the bilge pumps. He cleverly machined the control wheel to bury the push-to-talk wires inside the control wheel and special ordered the Q-tip propeller blades. Thompson also designed the rod for the bow door (better than anything I’ve seen in any other Bee) and redesigned the whole instrument panel. He designed and installed a depth gauge.”

ET breaks into a broad smile when he points out one detail that always catches one’s eye. “Ken Thompson was usually grumpy but had an occasional weird sense of humor. I was flying for United Airlines and had recently transferred from San Francisco to Miami in 1999, shortly before the Seabee was finished, and I was living in Puerto Rico. He finally called me in December 2000 to give ‘good news, bad news.’ Good news, the Beast was finally finished and ready to fly. Bad news, well, I had to go there in person for him to tell me. I anxiously traveled all the way from Puerto Rico to Sonoma to find out what happened. I was nervous with anticipation when I arrived, but there was my bird, looking all done and gorgeous. As we were walking towards the Bee, with a local airport entourage behind, Ken proceeded to tell me that a few nights ago, they heard shots around the airport and that the Bee was hit. I saw the bullet holes down the fuselage and had an absolute fit and started cussing in both Spanish and English. I was livid … until I went to put my fingers in the holes and found out they were stickers! The whole crowd was laughing their butts off behind me! The bullet holes have stayed there in his honor. They have fooled quite a few people. My plane finally flew again in December of 2000. People at Sonoma Airpark kept teasing me that the Seabee would not be completed until the next century. Well, it flew just before 2001!”

The Seabee requires a specialized understanding of the quirks specific to the airplane. Along with Ken Thompson, ET says the other mechanic who was extremely influential in keeping his Seabee operational was Henry Ruzakowsky. “He was highly recommended by other Seabee owners. Ken was on the West Coast, Henry on the East Coast. And nobody knew more about Seabees than Thompson and Ruzakowsky. Henry’s father worked assembling Seabees at Republic Field, the same factory that cranked thousands of P-47s and F-84s. Seabees were right in between those legends. Another pilot/mechanic who was an invaluable asset to the Seabee community was Richie Brumm, located on Long Island, New York. Richie was a dear friend and extremely talented machinist. He made a lot of improvements to the Bee. Interestingly, when Republic stopped producing the Seabee, there remained a significant stock of parts that are still available today. Dies, tooling, sheet metal parts, even factory-new bottom skins, floats, and rudders. So, surprisingly for an 80-year-old airplane, a good stock of new parts is still available.”

Then there’s the unique colorful paint on ET’s Seabee. He explains, “I flew out of San Francisco for United Airlines for 10 years, where I saw all kinds of interesting paint schemes. When I bought the Bee, it was all boring white and gray and in bad shape. I would occasionally see the Swiss airline Balair at San Francisco. It had a white fuselage, with the Swiss flag on the vertical, so all red with the white cross. Yellow and blue were also featured prominently on the airliner. I just thought it was very cool and simple, sort of like a Lego toy. And it suddenly clicked and I started doing some drawings with my then-wife, who was an artist … and that’s the result. Friends call it the Puerto Rican Bee. I baptized her ‘Borinquen Bee,’ which was the indigenous name of Puerto Rico when Christopher Columbus discovered the island. As we took her completely apart to corrosion-proof the whole seaplane, we painted most of the parts individually. My plan was to take her into saltwater, which I did numerous times. I’ve flown her from Florida to Puerto Rico twice. The paint has lasted quite well, especially considering she’s never been waxed and she’s lived most of her life outside. She’s a tribute to the friends who painted her.”

As mentioned earlier, the Seabee requires specialized maintenance expertise and a considerable amount of patience. Case in point is the Seabee’s most recent annual. ET says, “I took it to Henry for its annual inspection in October 2022. He was pretty sick with cancer complications by then, and he passed away in April 2023. Another mechanic begged me to give him the job, but he didn’t have any Seabee experience. However, he researched the Beast, and I hired him to finish the annual. Then I had a heart attack on May 15, 2023, and told him to stop because there were too many unknowns in my future. Once my recovery was apparent, the plane went to Evansville, Indiana, to a friend who had set up a shop there to restore Seabees. Then his mechanic also got cancer. He is still around, as far as I know. Then I brought it back to NC26 and found another mechanic who didn’t know about Seabees but was willing to give it a try. I had to ‘educate’ him on how things had to be done in Bees. He ended up refusing to sign the annual inspection! I finally found Kevin Alquist, a very nice IA from Kansas City who also happens to own a Seabee project. He’s acutely familiar with what needs to be done to keep them flying. My annual was finally signed off in May 2026, almost four years later. It was extremely expensive and frustrating, but I finally got her back in the air in time for AirVenture 2026.”

How much differently does the airplane handle when it’s operating from the water as opposed to a runway? ET responds, “Apples and oranges. It takes off fairly quickly from a runway, even on hot days. A water takeoff is a totally different story. On land, when you accelerate, you can continue to accelerate. The big downside to a runway takeoff is that you are restricted to the runway direction. The Seabee is a bit squirrely in a crosswind and tends to want to ground loop. The advantage of taking off from the water is that you are usually able to take off into the wind. On the water, however, you reach almost like terminal velocity, where you will not accelerate anymore because of the drag on the water, until you get it up on the step. You measure it by seconds, and on a normal typical seaplane takeoff, you might be looking at 30 to 40 seconds. Mine is often fairly heavily loaded, so my takeoff runs are fairly long, up to one minute, depending on how much weight I’m carrying. Runways are typically more sterile environments, whereas on the water, you have to judge the waves, and you have to keep an eye out for traffic. People are always attracted to something unusual like a Seabee, so sometimes they want to race you or come next to you on Jet Skis! Of course, you have to look for obstacles. I try to avoid shorelines, because they can hide rocks, logs, and swimmers! I recently flew a Seabee at Lake Okeechobee in Florida and had to dodge crocodiles!”

ET faced mandatory retirement from United Airlines almost two years ago, but now, he keeps even busier. He explains, “I think I am just about the only CFI in the U.S. who is rated on the Seabee, so I guess I’m one of the ‘Seabee Experts’ in the country. It’s a wonderful way to spend retirement!” He is definitely a well-known and well-liked personality in the aviation community.

It is safe to say that every Seabee in the world has been modified to some extent, but here are general characteristics for a stock RC-3.