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MES Rating on Twin Bee!
[2011-01-21] Eric Weaver has
sent some quite amazing photos of N65NE (#23)
in Florida! N65NE is earning her keep at ESP Aviation,
where she is used for MES (Multi Engine Sea) rating new
seaplane pilots. They are located in Tavares, Florida,
and offer professional instruction, ground school on site,
in-flight training on N65NE, Commercial and Airline Transport
Pilot (ATP) - and of course great Florida weather!
For more information, and
your free "Twin Seabee Study Guide" and free
"Twin Bee Flight Manual" please visit:
www.mesrating.com
Thanks Eric for the amazing photos!
Please visit Photos section!
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N9507U in Arizona
[2010-12-25] Ken Slough
kindly sent a few photos of Joe LaPlaca's Twin Bee N9705U in
Arizona! These are the first photos your webmaster has
seen of # 017!
Ken is the chief pilot of Island Airways in Charlevoix,
Michigan. He recently had the privilege of flying
LaPlaca's Twin Bee - I took an ATP ride in it and its a
great flying airplane!
Thanks Ken for your report
and the great photos!
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UC-1 Twin Bee Amphibian Design Rights for Sale!
[2006-09-20] 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.
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!
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Peter Annis
[2006-03-13] Peter Annis,
who was a test pilot for the UC-1 Twin Bees, kindly has sent a
lot of new information for the UC-1
Twin Bee Production List! Peter made the first
flight for all but one of the 23 Twin Bees built! He
also made the last flight for several of RC-3 Seabees that
were converted/remanufactured to UC-1 Twin Bees.
Hopefully, Peter will tell more about the Twin Bee history and
his experiences later...
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Ownership Changes
[2005-05-25] On
01 February 2005 Twin Bee N65NE (s/n 023) was registered on FAA Registry
to E S P Aviation LLC, Wilmington, Delaware, USA. N65NE was previously owned by Mr. Hardy F. LeBel who
sadly was killed in an airplane midair collision on 16 November 2003.
Mr. Daniel Staton of Corvallis, Oregon, informs that
he is the new owner of Twin Bee N950TB (s/n 020). N950TB is under
restoration, but has already made her first post-restoration
flights. This week # 020 will be flown to Oklahoma, where she will
get new paint, glass and interior. This final work is scheduled to be
finished late July. Daniel will send photos later.
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Twin Bee on eBay!
[2004-12-03] STOL
UC-1 Twin Bee N65NE (s/n 23) is currently listed for sale at eBay
auctions!
Go
to eBay!
Built in 1986, N65NE was the second to last Twin Bee
made. According to the eBay Auction description, she is in perfect
condition with a fresh annual of April 2004. TT 940 hours. The
eBay auction ends on 5 December. The Twin Bee auction has a
"Buy it Now" price of $ 175,000.
N65NE was previously owned by Mr. Hardy F. LeBel who
sadly was killed in an airplane midair collision on 16 November 2003.
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Twin Bees s/n 016
and s/n 020
[2004-04-26] Command
Aircraft Inc. of Bunnell, Florida, have acquired two UC-1 Twin Bee
amphibians; N950CB (s/n 016) and C-FLCL (s/n 020).
N950CB was acquired from an estate sale in New
Hampshire and was this April disassembled and moved to Florida.
N950CB is currently for sale! Please go to Seabee Classified
section for more details! N950CB will need assembly, a new annual
and replacement of fuel bladder, tires, brakes etc. as it has not flown
since 1991.
Last listed owner of N950CB was Mr. Thomas
F. Twomey; Chocorva, New Hampshire. Last listed owner of C-FLCL
was Mr. Johann
Olaf Baumgartner; Salt Spring Island, British
Columbia, Canada.
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Twin Bee RP-C2743
Flying!
[2004-02-06] It
is with great joy Mr. Elpie Paras reports that his beautiful STOL UC-1
Twin Bee, RP-C27043 (s/n 015), successfully made her first test flight
in The Phillippines on 03 February 2004!
The test pilot was Capt. Leo D.
Yosalina, who is one of very
few amphibian rated CAA test pilots in The Philippines. Capt.
Yosalina reported no problems. Congratulations Elpie!
The test flight was made from Cagayan de Oro Airport
- Lumbia, CDO. Cagayan de Oro City has a population of more than 430 K,
and is located along the central coast of Northern Mindanao.
The city serves as the center of the Philippines'
administrative Region X, which includes the provinces of Camiguin,
Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental.
RP-C2730 is ex N9506U, and was purchased by Elpie on
a government auction in 2000. More
photos.
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Philippine Photos
[2003-11-24] Mr. Elpie Paras has kindly sent several photos
of his beautiful Twin Bee (s/n 015) in The Philippines. That
paint scheme looks great!! Thank you Elpie!!
As can be seen from the photos, the Philippine
registration marks 'RP-C2743' have not been painted on the aircraft
yet. Some documents with Philippine
authority (ATO) have to
completed first. The Twin Bee is also awaiting her
first test flight for certification.
The only
qualified Filipino CAA test pilot is in the US for the time being.
RP-C2743 is ex American N9506U.
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Hardy F. LeBel
[2003-11-19] It is sadly reported that Mr. Hardy Franklin LeBel
(65) was killed on Sunday, 16 November 2003, in a mid-air
collision between the Cessna 180 he was aboard and a Piper
PA-28-181. The tragic accident happened at Westerly State Airport,
Rhode Island. The other occupant of the Cessna 180 landplane, Mr.
Peter Budd Coleman (58), was also killed. The three persons aboard
the Piper PA-28 escaped without injuries. More details can be found at The
Westerly Sun Newspaper web-site. The accident is under
investigation by the local police and the NTSB.
Mr. LeBel was the owner of UC-1 Twin Bee N65NE, which
he purchased from Mr. Jay Merten early in 2002. He was a long time
commercial pilot/instructor and he was the Chief Pilot of New England
Air.
LeBel was an avid seaplane pilot, flying his Cessna
180 on amphibian floats and his new Twin Bee. LeBel was the Long
Island Field Director of SPA (Seaplane Pilots Association).
Updated 2003-11-24: From the NTSB Preliminary Accident Report, some more details on
the accidents;
On November 16, 2003, at 1330 eastern standard time,
a Cessna 180, N34AG, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain,
after colliding in-flight with a Piper PA-28-181, N2885D. The Piper
received minor damage during a hard landing after the collision. The
collision occurred while the Cessna was taking off, and the Piper was
landing, at the Westerly Airport, Westerly, Rhode Island. Both
certificated flight instructors aboard the Cessna were fatally injured,
while the certificated private pilot and two passengers aboard the Piper
were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no
flight plan was filed for either airplane. The Cessna was a local
instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, while the Piper was
a personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, which originated from
the Windham Airport, Windham, Connecticut.
The complete Preliminary Accident Synopsis can be found at
the NTSB web-site. NTSB Identification: NYC04FA033A
.
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Twin Bee Photos
[2003-09-30] A Twin Bee owner sent a number of photos of beautiful
Twin Bee N123BR (s/n 012).
According to the US CAR, N123BR is currently owned by American
Aircraft Sales LLC; Wonewoc, Wisconsin, USA. However, it seems
that N123BR is operated by the company Flight Technologies, Inc.
For more Twin Bee photos, please visit
the Twin
Bee Photos section!
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Twin Bee in The Philippines
[2003-09-30] Twin Bee s/n 015 (ex N9506U) was acquried by Mr. Elpidio
M. Paras, Cagayan de Oro City, The Philippines, on a government auction in
2000. After a three-year rebuild, #015 has now been registered as
"RP-C2743" on The Philippine CAR. The Philippine registration
marks have not been applied to the aircraft yet. More
photos...
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