#seabee

What a funky looking little plane.

1946 Republic RC-3 Seabee

I'm having so much fun drawing colorful airplanes with these pens, I may just have to get more colors and make more!

The Danger of Unbelief.—In one of the popular books of the present day there is a story told of “The Sunken Rock.” A vessel, named the Thetis, was cruising in the Mediterranean, in search of a shoal or bank, or something of that kind, said to exist beneath the treacherous waters. The captain, after he had adopted all the means he thought necessary, having failed, abandoned the enterprise, declaring “that the reported danger was all a dream.” An officer on board formed a different judgment, went out by himself on an expedition afterwards into the very same latitude and longitude, and there discovered a reef of rocks, which he reported to the Admiralty, and it was inserted in the charts, the discoverer being rewarded with a high appointment. The intelligence came to the captain’s ears; he would not believe in the discovery. He was a shrewd, clever, practical man, but unscientific, incredulous, and obstinate. “The whole thing is a falsehood,” he exclaimed; adding, “If ever I have the keel of the Thetis under me in those waters again, if I don’t carry her clean over where the chart marks a rock, call me a liar and no seaman.” Two years after, he was conveying in the same vessel the British Ambassador to Naples. One windy night he and the master were examining the chart on deck by the light of the lantern, when the latter pointed out the sunken rock on the map. “What!” exclaimed the old seaman “is this invention to meet me in the teeth again? No; I swore I would sail over that spot the first chance I had, and I’ll do it.” He went down into the cabin, merrily related the story to the company, and said, “Within five minutes we shall have passed the spot.” There was a pause. Then, taking out his watch, he said, “Oh, the time is past. We have gone over the wonderful reef.” But presently a grating touch was felt on the ship’s keel, then a sudden shock, a tremendous crash—the ship had foundered. Through great exertions most of the crew was saved, but the captain would not survive his own mad temerity, and the last seen of him was his white figure, bareheaded, and in his shirt, from the dark hull of the Thetis, as the foam burst round her bows and stem, He perished, a victim of unbelief. So perish multitudes. ~ Preacher’s Homiletical

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA YOU SWEETIE!

Republic RC-3 Seabee. Type first flew in 1945 and produced for only two years, 1946-47. US Forest Service. Patrol plane on the shore of Thomas Lake, Minnesota.

Republic Seabee. This amphibian was designed in the closing days of WWII to satisfy the presumed upcoming market for private aircraft driven by returning GIs with a taste for flying.  Price and timing doomed this attempt; the original cost was to be around $3,000.00 but production expense doubled this making the Seabee much more expensive than other production aircraft of the era not to mention the availability of surplus military birds dumped on the market. A little over 1000 examples of this bird were made before production stopped after a year.  Many are still flying today, a tribute to good construction. If you can find one it will cost a lot more than the original price. Having said that I would love to own one. If only the damn lottery would cooperate. :)

The Studebaker Corp, 1944