Republic Seabee (oz15901)
About this Plan
Republic Seabee. Radio control scale model seaplane. Wingspan 51.5 in
Direct submission to Outerzone.
Quote: "Attached please find my modifications for Republic SeaBee (oz946) plan. I have been fascinated with the SeaBee from the moment I saw these plans in RCM as a kid. But there are problems with this plan that always put me off of building it.
The original design was apparently a handful, and quite tail heavy. Mountjoy even mentions adding ballast on a boom ahead of the fuselage in the article. Which makes you wonder why he cut off the nose, reduced the chord, and switched out the airfoil from scale, on a plane that was going to be tail-heavy anyway and need a lots of lift to climb off the water.
So after all these years, I decided to see if restoring the original fuselage profile and Clark-y airfoil would help. I think it did. By the way, thanks to "bmutlugil" for tracing the original into CAD format! It saved me a ton of work!
My version came in at about the same weight as Mountjoy's low end, 58 oz flying weight. Strange, since my version uses balsa throughout, rather than all those plywood bulkheads. But my cubic wing loading is still a bit high, at 13.9. I increased the chord 3/4", but if I were to do it again, I think might add another half inch, to bring down the wing loading even more. There is room if you leave out the passenger windows, which I decided to do anyway, to beef up the fuselage behind my removable cockpit. Even at 22.4 oz/sqft, it's well under the original's 31 oz/sqft.
In any case, it's not a difficult plane to fly, despite a somewhat high stall speed. It's certainly a much easier plane to handle than any warbird I've owned. It lifts off in a very scale manner, in about 30 feet, climbs quickly, and has very gentle stall characteristics. It's a rudder plane, and likes coordinated turns.
I decided to use a home-made retractable gear system of my own design, but I can claim only qualified success, since they tend to collapse under rough landings. If I did it again, I would probably convert it to a manual system with a locking mechanism of some sort. Or just use Mountjoy's solution of plugging the gear in either up or down, depending on how wet the runway is.
I used a FlashHobby 3536-1450kv motor, 40 amp ESC, and 9x4.5 prop, with a 3 cell 3300mha battery in the cockpit. Ecalc estimates 24mph stall, 54mph level, and 1620 ft/min climb, which feels about right."
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(oz15901)
Republic Seabee
by Tom Mountjoy, Blueblaze
2014
51in span
Scale Electric R/C Floatplane Pusher
clean :)
all formers complete :)
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Submitted: 27/02/2025
Filesize: 1341KB
Format: • PDFvector • CADfile
Credit*: Blueblaze
Downloads: 625
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Republic_RC-3_Seabee | help
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ScaleType: This (oz15901) is a scale plan. Where possible we link scale plans to Wikipedia, using a text string called ScaleType.
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User comments
Can I ask why you chose Tom Mountjoy’s version as opposed to Harold Towner’s version? I’m always trying to learn a little more about model airplane design. I too have been interested in the Republic Seabee for a long time, particularly Harold Towner’s free flight version. Though, I’ve never built a complex model like this. The Towner article states that it had a wing loading of 16 oz/sqft. With today’s covering materials and microelectronics, I’ve considered giving it a try and converting it to RC. I’d reduce the dihedral and add ailerons, maybe flaps as well. It seems to me a big LiPo battery up front would solve any CG problems. I haven’t done any sort of calculations except just thinking about it in my head! Thanks in advance for any input or comments.Dave Lentz - 14/03/2025
One more thought. If you took todays Hobbyzone AeroScout and removed the current landing gear and added wing sponsons you'd almost have a faux Seabee!
Dave Lentz - 14/03/2025
Hi Dave;
I don't think Steve actually picked the Tom Mountjoy’s version. Outerzone publishes plans kindly donated by fellow aeromodellers and is a treasure-trove worthy of international recognition and protection.
JBP
John - 14/03/2025
I am guessing the question is directed at Blueblaze, and not me. And I would guess the answer is simply because the RCM plan is for RC and not FF?
SteveWMD - 14/03/2025
Sorry for not being clear. Yes, my question was directed to Blueblaze. And thank you all for your comments back!
Dave Lentz - 14/03/2025
See also the excellent build thread by Blueblaze on RCGroups for lots more details and build pics, plus flight report at: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread...
SteveWMD - 15/03/2025
Funny comment about the Aero Scout. I teach RC Flying at my home field and when a student brings their brand new Scout, the first thing I do is cut a piece of foam out from the very front so we can slip in a piece of lead. This is because the Aero Scout while a great plane, comes tail heavy due to that short nose. I would rather slide the battery more forward but then the hatch won't close.
John - 15/03/2025
I'm surprised that no Sea Bee lovers take into account a very accurate RC version of this most beautiful and iconic aircraft. I'm referring to the Seabee designed by Jack Bale, available through Sarik Hobbies. Mr. Bale was a very talented designer. His U2 Spyplane is extremely accurate and very well conceived. I imagine that his SeaBee is also very good.
Eduardo - 16/03/2025
I haven't seen a copy of that plan, only the thumbnail image. I suspect that plan shows a fuselage of moulded fibreglass. So not the traditional balsa and ply construction. But yes I would love to see that plan, if anyone has a copy.
SteveWMD - 16/03/2025
J.L. Bale used for his models homemade vacuformed ABS styrene fuselage moulding over traditional balsa structure. ABS is lighter than fiberglass and ideal for electric scale models. At his death was found all the mouldings but were so many that some remained unidentified. At the time you have to order plans and parts from him. This probably discouraged the buyer of his stuffs to start a kit line, on the other side selling plans without the ABS parts isn’t of a great interest for the most of modellers other than plan collectors. Undoubtedly Jack was ahead of his time and a pioneer in rc electric scale models and PSS gliders.
Pit - 16/03/2025
To answer the questions:
-- I used the Mountjoy plan because that's the one that so fascinated me as a kid.
-- Concerning the Jack Bale plan, the RCG "build" thread actually started with me asking if anybody knew where to find the Bale plane. I'd read in another thread that it was the only fairly recent and successful RC version, and was much closer to the scale outlines. I never did find the whole plan (although I think you can buy it in Europe), but I found a picture of it, which I used to help with the outlines of my version. I also used 3-views of the full scale, to compare to the Bale plan. It looked like he shortened the tail a bit to help with the CG, and I followed his example.
Please be aware, I'm just a life-long builder who got a wild hair to try some serious plan bashing. I am no aeronautical engineer, or even a decent draftsman. There are sure to be errors in these plans, so be aware.
I hope to see vast improvements from those who follow. I'd really like to see someone produce a better solution for the retracts!
Blueblaze - 19/03/2025
for most of his model JL Bale used the Paul Matt's very detailed drawings, Seabee is in Scale airplane drawings vol.2. I required I can post this drawings.
Pit - 19/03/2025
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- Republic Seabee (oz15901)
- Plan File Filesize: 1341KB Filename: Republic_Seabee_oz15901.pdf
- CAD Zip Filesize: 680KB Filename: Republic_Seabee_oz15901_cad.zip
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