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Tex Rankin's Seabee NC6096K (#279)
after crash on 23 February 1947
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Photo: © Steinar Saevdal Collection
On July 25, 1946 president John G. ("Tex") Rankin of Rankin
Aviation Industries, Tulare, California, became the first customer to
accept the delivery of a Republic Seabee amphibian, when NC87463 (s/n 13)
was officially handed over to Tex at Republic, Farmingdale, New York.
The accident in which Tex was killed happened on February 23,
1947. Tex took off in Seabee NC6096K (s/n 279) from Klamath Falls
Municipal Airport (now Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport), Oregon, with
passengers Lanier S. Wallan, Jack Elie and M. J. S. Thompson. They
were bound for a
Seabee dealer's meeting at Victoria, Washington. The Seabee was slow in
gaining altitude and apparently struck a 70 foot high tension line that
overturned their airplane, causing it to fall on its nose. Tex, Cy
Wallan and Jack Elie were killed and Buzz Thompson suffered a fractured
arm and concussions. NC6096K had been delivered to Rankin Aviation
Industries just over a month before.
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In 1947 I was living in Klamath Falls, Oregon. A local automobile dealer had contracted with Republic Aviation to
sell their new amphibian, the Republic SeaBee. They had one there
as a demonstrator which I was allowed to fly around the pea patch and
also land it on Upper Klamath Lake. It was a great speedboat and it was fun to taxi along at about
sixty indicated, crank the trim tab a little nose up, then rise smoothly
off the water, crank a little nose down and gently go back down on the
water and keep on speeding along, make tight turns, crank up, then down
again, then up. Great control and good feel to the plane.
The only objection I had to it was that it felt
somewhat sluggish in the air, but on the water it was simply great!
A day or two later Tex Rankin flew in in a new SeaBee
he was taking to Seattle for an airshow and exhibition. He picked up some passengers: the
auto dealer and a couple of his friends and they took off. On
climbout the engine lost power and Tex aimed at a field not far away from the airport. He was descending
nicely but the tail struck on a power line at the edge of the field,
tipped the plane on its nose and it dropped straight down to the ground,
killing Tex and a passenger. The other passenger suffered a broken arm and
lived to tell about Tex fiddling with the mixture on climbout, losing the engine and not being
able to restart it. I didn’t see the accident but I saw what was
left of the wreckage and I thought of seeing Tex
just a few months earlier at Vail Field in Los Angeles
doing his aerobatic routine in his Great Lakes
.
He did the outside square loop but couldn’t quite
complete it and just let the plane hang there on the Menasco engine
until it finally began to tailslide. He flipped to nose down,
gained some speed and altitude and tried again. This time he
completed the last upward leg of the square. It was totally
impressive! I’m eighty-five years old now and still can see him
vividly in my mind doing his unique brand of aerobatics. After
nearly five-thousand hours of my own and owning several different types
of planes over the years, my memories of Tex are still warm and fresh. He really was an inspiration to everyone
who was fortunate enough to see him perform.
“Cheerful” Charlie Spurrier
Highland, Utah
2006-04-19
cheerful_charlie@hotmail.com
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Tex Rankin's Seabee NC6096K (#279)
after crash on 23 February 1947
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Photo: © Steinar Saevdal Collection
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