Republic Seabees in Norway

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Norway is a country with a very long coast line splitted up by hundreds of scenic fjords, thousands of islands and thousands of inland lakes - and a very low  density of population.   It is therefore no surprise that aviation have played an important role in modern Norwegian communications history

Already in the 1920s and 1930s the first commercial aircraft operators were formed, most of them operating seaplanes.  When WW2 started several Norwegian military and civil pilots escaped to England to continue their resistance in the Allied air forces. When WW2 ended, the aviation scene was completely different.  During the war the technologies of aviation had made giant leaps and it was no longer a strange thought the John Doe could have his own airplane or could go by airplane when traveling.

Several small air taxi companies were formed by ex military pilot heroes from the war.  Norway has long traditions of shipping and after WW2 many ship owners grew an interest in air travel.  Soon almost every little airfield in Norway had a freshly started aircraft operator.  While some of them started their business with surplus military light airplanes from the war, such as Austers and Norseman, several operators found the new Seabee most interesting for the Norwegian coastline.

The famous Norwegian-American aviation pioneer Thor Solberg became the representative for Republic Seabee in Norway in 1946, and after heavy marketing during 1946 - 1947 his company imported 11 Seabees from the USA to Norway.  The first Seabee for Thor Solberg (msn 202) was delivered at Republic on 13 January 1947.

Most of the new Seabees imported from the USA were shipped in crates from New York to Bergen, Norway.  From Bergen they were transported by barges to Flatøy SPB, north of Bergen, where they were assembled in the military hangars that Thor Solberg had hired from the Norwegian government.

One of the early operators of the Seabee, Vestlandske Luftfartselskap AS (VLS), got their first 3 Seabees in May 1947 and officially started their operations from Sandviken SPB in Bergen on 23 June 1947.

VLS was formed in March 1947 after initiative from local politicians who wanted to improve the transportations to and from Bergen.  The location of a Bergen airport had been discussed for years, and was to be discussed for many more - until the final decision was made for Flesland in the early 1950s.  Bergen Airport Flesland opened in 1956.

Thor Solberg also wanted to operate aircraft commercially from Flatøy, but the local government had put restrictions on the number of aircraft operators operating in Bergen area.  They favored VLS and Thor Solberg was only allowed to operate as a flight school and air taxi operator. Solberg also founded a base at Sola Airport.  During 1948 Solberg sold most of his aircraft in Norway, including the Seabees and moved back to the USA.

Logo: © Courtesy Kim Brantenberg

On the coast the Seabees would fly people, mail, supplies, etc. to habitated islands.  From inland lakes and rivers, the Seabees would fly delicious fish to the town markets.  The Seabees would also be the life saving ambulance transportation for emergencies in remote areas and to islands along the coast.

Seabee operators in Norway included Thor Solbergs Flyselskap AS, Wideröe's Flyveselskap AS, Vestlandske Luftfartselskap AS, Tröndelag Flyselskap, Sörfly AS, Mörefly AS.

Almost all of the Norwegian Seabees had minor accidents or crashed during their careers.  Most of the  accidents happened off airports.  This should come as no surprise, when considering the challenging environment they operated in and the difficult tasks they had.  In most accidents the occupants survived, but sadly three people died in two ambulance flight crashes.

Two Seabees (msn 645 and msn 646) were imported to Norway from England to replace Seabees that had been lost in accidents.