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If you have any Seabee News
to report, please contact
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2006 Dec 18
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George
Sandy - A Tehachapi Aviation Cornerstone
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 George
T. Sandy started an aerial photography business, Aerial Eye,
Inc., at the Tehachapi Municipal Airport in 1970. That means he's still
in business after 36 years, which is a long time for a successful
business these days. Using his specially-equipped Cessna 177RG, he takes
breathtaking photographs of the ground from the air, including a recent
one of Tehachapi. He owns three hangers at the airport, the largest of
which contains several aircraft, including a vintage Ryan military
trainer, a Republic Seabee flying boat that he's restoring, and a
one-man helicopter — of which there are only three known to exist —
that he intends to restore and donate to a museum. His hanger also
shelters a vintage boat and a Ford Model T, both meticulously restored.
He loves sharing his treasures with others and opens his hanger to the
public at least twenty times a year.
Sandy is currently president of the Tehachapi Society of Pilots and is
active in the continuing development of the Tehachapi Airport. He has a
keen mind for flying as well as the business aspects of aviation.
Originally from Massachusetts, Sandy first started flying with the
Marine Corps in the closing months of World War II and has accumulated
over 22,000 hours of flight time. He didn't see much combat in the
Marines, but is very proud of his Good Conduct Medal, which isn't easy
to earn in the Marine Corps.
He is also proud of his membership in Pancho Barnes' Happy Bottom Riding
Club, which was frequented by Chuck Yeager and made famous in The Right
Stuff. The bar/restaurant/motel was changed into a private club so that
Pancho could exclude those that she didn't like. As Pancho was quite
particular about her friends, George has a right to be proud his
membership.
Although 78-years-old, he has no plans to retire. Should he sell his
current business, he'll start another.
Written by: Dale Hawkins, Tehachapi
Skywatch, hawk@ieee.org
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2006 Dec 16
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N6255K
Hawaii
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 Bob
Gould reports from beautiful Hawaii that by this December he has flown
approximately 37 hours since the long-time restoration of N6255K (s/n 462)
was finished last April. Bob purchased his Seabee from Fred
Sorensen in 1979, after
the Seabee had been in storage since her last flight in 1968! Bob and
his wife Gretchen are a co-trustees on the Seabee.
Modifications to magnificent N6255K include a
Lycoming IGO-480-G1D6 engine (modified to injection), 3-bladed
propeller, extended wings, droop wing tips, extended spray rails,
etc. The Seabee has a Total Time just over 800 hours. N6255K
is based at the Gould's beautiful home by the sea in Kaneohe.
Bob is a retired NW Boeing 747 Captain. His son
Scott is an Airbus A319 Captain for Frontier Airlines.
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2006 Oct 10
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N6467K
Crashed
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 It
has been reported that Seabee N6467K (s/n 718)
crashed on Tuesday 10 October 2006 in East Jordan, Michigan.
According to the preliminary report, the aircraft sustained substantial
damage when it crashed 22:00 local time.
The pilot was alone in the Seabee and was
uninjured. Any details on this accident will be appreciated.
Please contact webmaster.
Update - Nov 04, 2006: We are glad to have
received new information on this "accident", which shows that
the original report was strongly exaggerated (filed by an overzealous
local sheriff). The facts are that there was a partial gear
failure due to a faulty hydraulic pump. Fortunately, however, the only
damage to the Bee was minor damage to a float. The local FAA inspector
amended the report, and no ferry permit was required. The a/c was flown
back to its home airport without incident and will be repaired soon.
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2006 Sept 20
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UC-1 Twin Bee Amphibian Design Rights for
Sale!
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 Designer,
builder and owner of the UC-1 Twin Bee, Joseph Gigante, president of
the STOL Aircraft Corp., is announcing that he is selling the FAA Type
Certificate No. A6EA, all design and production rights, documentation,
tooling, jigs, molds and parts for the unique UC-1 Twin Bee amphibian
aircraft.
The UC-1 Twin Bee, designed by Mr. Gigante in the
early 1960s, is a twin engine version of the Republic RC-3 Seabee,
remanufactured from components from the single engine amphibian.
First flight was made in 1960 and on June 25, 1965, FAA Type Certificate
No. A6EA was awarded. A total of 23 Twin Bees have been built to this
date, the last one in 1987.
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 The Twin Bee exhibits exceptional
short take-off and landing capabilities and has proved to be the
perfect personal yacht as well as one of the most popular aircraft for
multiengine seaplane ratings with flight schools in the USA. Twin
Bees are also flying in Switzerland and in the Philippines.
This is a unique opportunity to get an already FAA
Type Certificated twin engine amphibian, without spending millions to
obtain design and approval. In addition, Mr. Gigante is prepared
to assist the new owner of the Twin Bee to achieve production capability.
Mr. Gigante will consider any reasonable offer from
any party seriously interested making the Twin Bee available for the
market again.
For more details, please contact Mr. Joseph Gigante at
e-mail:
Serious inquiries only, please!
More
information on the Twin Bee!
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2006 Sept 20
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David C.
Reeve - Skyway Airlines
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 Skyway
Airlines Appoints Chairman, President and CEO
MILWAUKEE,
Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Skyway Airlines, Inc. today announced
the appointment of David C. Reeve as chairman of the board, president and
chief executive officer. He will be responsible for all aspects of
Skyway's business performance, including flight operations, inflight
services, airport operations and aircraft maintenance, as well as finance,
human resources and administration.
Skyway Airlines, which operates as Midwest Connect, is
a wholly owned subsidiary of Midwest Airlines. Midwest Connect offers
connections to Midwest Airlines jet service and point-to-point service
between select markets on regional jets and turboprop aircraft.
Reeve originally joined Skyway Airlines (then Astral
Aviation) in 1997 as president and chief executive officer. He served in
that capacity until late 1998 when he moved to Midwest Airlines as senior
vice president of operations. In 1999, he was named chairman of Skyway's
board of directors.
"David is truly committed to the regional side of
our operations," said Timothy E. Hoeksema, chairman and chief
executive officer of Midwest Airlines. "Even after he moved to
Midwest Airlines, he remained loyal to his roots as chairman of Skyway's
board - continually championing Skyway's vital contributions to Midwest
Air Group." He added that naming a senior Midwest executive to head
Skyway underscores Midwest's corporate commitment to Skyway, especially
now as the regional airline expands its 328JET fleet and other business
services.
The appointment is effective immediately, with Reeve
continuing to fill his current role as senior vice president of operations
on the Midwest side until a replacement is named.
Reeve's aviation career spans more than 40 years and
includes serving as director of flight operations for DHL Airways;
director of flight operations and managing director of flight operations
at Pan Am Express; chief of systems control and vice president/director of
operations for San Juan Airlines; and pilot, manager and manager of flight
operations for Reeve Aleutian Airways. He holds a bachelor of business
administration degree in management from the University of Alaska.
Reeve serves on the senior advisory committee of the
Air Transport Association and as a member of General Mitchell
International Airport's noise advisory committee.
A native of Anchorage, Reeve nurtured his love of
flight at an early age while growing up in a family known for pioneering
aviation in Alaska. He and his wife, Laurie, now reside in the Milwaukee
area and enjoy exploring the Midwest in the vintage Republic RC-3 Seabee
amphibian (N6102K) they
restored.
Skyway Airlines, Inc. - a wholly owned subsidiary of
Midwest Airlines (Amex: MEH) - operates Midwest Connect. Skyway offers
connections to Midwest Airlines and point-to-point service between select
markets. Together, the airlines fly to 47 cities. More information is
available at www.midwestairlines.com.
SOURCE: Midwest Air Group, Inc.
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2006 Jan 16
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Simuflight
Relocated
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 Simuflight
has finally completed the move to their new 6,000 square foot facility in
Fallon, Nevada, a project that took longer than originally planned.
The
last of unloading of parts and tooling took place in the week of January
9th, and this also marked the first shipment of Seabee parts in two years. -
We are still a little disorganized and expect that to last for a couple of
months, but we plan on accepting aircraft starting the 1st of February
and have already begun shipping parts to customers; president Scott
Henderson reports. Simuflight's Nevada Facility is
located at the Fallon Municipal Airport (KLFX), approximately 50 miles
east of Reno (KRNO) and has a 5703 x 75 ft runway, tie downs and local
services for those who need to stay while their aircraft is being worked
on. Fallon is also conviently located on major trucking routes, if your
Seabee can't be flown to the facility. The Fallon shop
is being run by Ken Thompson (ex Kenair) who has been maintaining and
restoring Seabees for more than 25 years and who knows more than most
about these unique aircraft. Long time Seabee owner and mechanic,
Tim Sutter, has also joined the Simuflight staff. Tim is dedicated
to travelling to your location to handle Seabee work. Simuflight
offers the largest inventory of Seabee parts anywhere in the World - and
of course all the Simuflight kits that most Seabee owners have come to
depend on. New STC kits are under development, including
an electric trim system and a wing landing light kit. The STCs are
still pending on both of these kits, but final flight tests on these kits
will be made within the next few weeks.
Simuflight was founded over 30 years ago by Joe McHugh
out of a passion for the Seabees. Over the years Joe developed some of the
most innovative and popular modifications available for the Seabee and in
that time became the man that everyone came to for Seabee knowledge.
After the tragic death of Joe McHugh in 2003, his children decided to
continue the legacy and the support for Seabees that their father so
loved. Scott Henderson, Joe's son, has taken over the engineering
for the company and is moving forward projects like the electric elevator
and rudder trim, a new engine package, in-wing landing lights and more to
expand the variety Seabee kits. Engineering is out of his Alaska office,
so you will have to bring a fishing pole if you want a face to face with
the engineer.
Joe's daughters Penny (Larson) and Kris (Goldman) are taking over the
business and financial operations of the company as well as the FAA
relationships.
- Our goal over the next couple of years is to increase our production
capacity to be able to produce a minimum of two restored Seabees (SuperBees) annually and support maintenance and parts demands from the
Seabee community. We expect this growth to take time and we hope that
everyone can be patient as we grow.
We look forward to working with the Seabee community and encourage you to
contact any of us on the management team and let us know what you think
and provide suggestions and comments so that we can continually improve
the services that we provide.
For more information on their services, go to the
Simuflight website at http://www.simuflight.net
President Scott Henderson can be reached at telephone 907-339-8085
/ 6101 or e-mail scott@simuflight.net
Address; Scott Henderson; McHugh Aviation Inc., 3763 Image Drive,
Anchorage, Alaska 99504, USA.
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