Splash In!
By Russ Albertson
Clear Lake, California provided a perfect setting and beautiful weather for this year’s annual Splash In. (Russ Albertson)The West Coast Seaplane Association’s annual “Splash In” was held at Clear Lake, Calif. in September, 2011 and was certainly the place to be if you have an interest in some fun aviation! “Splash In” is the perfect description for this event that attracted seaplane pilots and fans from as far away as British Colombia.
More than thirty seaplanes arrived over the weekend to participate in the activities and perfect weather at Lakeport, on the west side of Clear Lake. The city allows the association to utilize an inactive high school athletic field located at the water’s edge with a short dirt ramp to the beach. It was great fun to watch various planes land in the water, lower their landing gear as they approached the beach and taxi right up onto the grass field. Amphibious seaplanes, equipped with retractable wheels, certainly add a great versatility to the adventures possible for these pilots. Buoys and docks were also available to planes not equipped with wheels.
The Amphicar drew a crowd of lookers including Rob Albertson. (Russ Albertson)To add to the fun, a group of Amphicars delighted the crowd as they drove down the ramp and into the water. These four-passenger amphibious cars were built in the 60s and have two propellers and rudders at the rear and looked like great fun even though they didn’t fly. The Seaplane Association offered various classes on seaplane flying and, later in the day, staged some spot landing and “water bombing” contests close enough to the shore for the crowd to see. They promote awareness and protection of our nation’s lakes and rivers and work to keep invasive species from spreading out of their natural environment.
Participating seaplane pilots were proud to show off their planes and explain their adventures in the wide variety of craft represented. On display were float and hull seaplanes, single and multi-engine, large and 
A GrummanWidgeon coming up the ramp. (Russ Albertson)small. Various kit planes and home-built aircraft ranged from ultra-lights and light sport aircraft available on floats or hulls and production models available to buy ready to fly. Historical aircraft included the Republic Seabee built in 1947, Grumman Widgeon, Grumman Albatross and a Cessna 195 on floats. A couple of DeHavilland Beavers converted to Turbo-props were very impressive. The Turbo-Beaver and Otter are in high demand and used all over Canada and Alaska in commercial operations.
I recently had a chance to experience float-plane flying at Lake Powell, Arizona, and although I have been flying for a while, I never knew what I was missing until I was able to cruise down low in the water filled canyons. Whether on floats or hulls, seaplanes offer great versatility, and 
An RV-7 on float was on display. (Russ Albertson)I can see why every pilot I talked with at the Splash-In was so excited. I talked with Bruce and Jamie Hinds about their beautiful Republic RC-3 Seabee and they certainly had every reason to be proud of their “Bee.” Their aircraft was built in 1947 but went through a complete rebuild in 1993.
Republic Aircraft Corporation began producing the Seabee after WWII thinking that all the returning pilots and servicemen would certainly create a demand for a versatile and inexpensive aircraft. Republic had a great reputation for building rugged aircraft during the war and the Seabee was no exception. Republic’s innovative design and manufacturing resulted in a plane that rivals larger seaplanes in rough-water handling and strength. The wings and tail were designed without internal ribs, except where the skins overlap and provide a tremendous weight saving for the “Bee.” External ridges in the skin in these areas enhanced the required stiffness and contributed extra durability. The only real problem with the original Seabee was the underpowered Franklin engine that resulted in poor performance. Although Republic was able to produce the Seabee with very low construction costs per aircraft, they failed to price the plane adequately and coupled with the lack of performance, Republic stopped production after a couple of years.
The beautiful Republic RC-3 Seabee owned by Bruce and Jamie Hinds. (Russ Albertson)Bruce Hinds researched the history of his “Bee” and told me it had owners in upstate New York and Chicago. Both owners had flown the Seabee to Florida, one had even flown it to Cuba and the Bahamas. It had additional owners in Florida and California and finally ended up in Washington State. This Seabee was acquired by the owner of Aerotech, a great Seabee enthusiast who planned to start a business restoring and possibly remanufacturing Seabees in Shelton, Wash.
In 1993, Aerotech joined with an investment group in Vancouver, B.C. that had acquired the Type Certificate for the Seabee. Aerotech planned to offer “zero-time” Seabees with modifications to the wing and a more powerful Lycoming engine conversion. The first “Super Bee” demonstrator was shown off at the Washington State Seaplane Pilots 
The visibility was outstanding in the Bee; the high-wing is located at the aft end of the cabin and the large windows offer great visibility. (Russ Albertson) Association Fly-in in 1993 and almost doubled the performance of the classic Bee. Bruce Hinds’ Seabee was one of two Super Bees remanufactured, with every rivet replaced, before the business venture failed due to lack of funds. Bruce said he had spoken to the prior owner of his Bee and was very impressed by his plane, and researched other Seabees for sale. He could not find any other Seabee that could compare to this remanufactured Super Bee and lost interest and stopped looking. Eight months later Bruce and Jamie were on their way to buy a boat when they happened to run into the Seabee owner in Friday Harbor, Wash. and found out the Bee was now for sale. After a short family conference, they decided on the Seabee. It happened that the boat broker was a pilot too and realized they shouldn’t pass up this opportunity.
Jamie Hinds with her Republic RC-3 Seabee. The “Bee” was originally built in 1947 but went through a complete rebuild in 1993. (Russ Albertson)Bruce and Jamie offered to give me a ride in their Super Bee. They were on their way over to Lampson Field, just a couple miles from the lake to get fuel. This would be a very quick flight, but I would be able to see both water and land operations of the Bee. I hopped in the front right seat with Bruce at the controls. Jamie and Oliver, a large sheep dog, sat in the back. Bruce did the pre-flight and started the Bee, as a local Boy Scout Troop, helping out the Seaplane Association, held the crowd back so we could safely taxi. We taxied down the ramp and into the lake with the crowd still watching. We taxied a safe distance from the beach and I watched as Bruce retracted the landing gear and completed the checklist. As he added power, the Bee began to plane as we gained speed and in no time we were airborne. We made a couple of turns over the lake and then headed for Lampson about four miles away.
The visibility was outstanding in the Bee; the high-wing is located at the aft end of the cabin and the large windows allowed a great view of the lake. I had plenty of leg-room in the front right seat.
The Seabee was designed with the instrument panel ending at the center of the plane and I had nothing in front of me. The Bee was designed this way to allow access to a nose hatch and I noticed a coil of rope for tying to a dock on the floor close to the door – not the usual equipment found in the cockpit of a plane!
Rolling onto final at Lampson, Bruce slowed and lowered the flaps and landing gear and said, “You really have to know where your gear is when operating a seaplane!” He held 80 mph on final with a strong crosswind and said, “the Bee handles a lot like a Beech 18; you definitely have to keep it in trim,” as he made a great landing on the narrow runway. As we fueled I noticed a red lipstick mark on the nose, and Jamie admitted she likes to give the “Bee” a kiss for luck – I thought it was a nice touch!
Bruce made a conventional crosswind takeoff and climbed to 700 feet for the flight back to the lake. He made a traffic call on the radio to let the other planes know we were setting up our approach to land close to the beach. We flew by some people on jet skis and boats who were also watching the fun this day. Rechecking “wheels up” this time, Bruce made an approach at 65 mph for a smooth touchdown on the lake. He lowered the gear as we approached the beach and added power to taxi up the ramp…what fun! With a 100 mph cruise speed, the Seabee is not the fastest plane on the market, but who cares; it has a large comfortable cabin and when you are headed to a great fishing spot, you will probably always beat the guys that had to drive or fly to a nearby airport and rent a boat!
