Why not Pack Some Wings and Go Fishing?

               Everyone may have been accustomed to the practice of seeing somebody owning  a small boat, a dinghy, yacht whatever you call it for gaining mobility over small bodies of water like ponds, lakes, rivers or large bodies of water like the ocean or the open sea just to gain such absolute leisure time going on fishing. It is a very common thing to do if one has a bit of an investment, savings or a profitable business just to afford a few of such life’s luxuries. A small boat with a paddle will not cost much but motorized dinghies and yachts which are both sailing boats could command quite an amount way beyond an average fish-minded individual’s pocket. But what about if for the same amount or comparably lesser expenditures associated with maintaining or owning a yacht you have better choice at hand arriving at the fishing spot in style avoiding the usual traffic it would take you from home to the harbor, marina, to the docks (whichever terminology applies)?

Image by wikipedia

             The Republic Seabee is a unique aircraft design in her own right. An amphibian, which means she could spend time on land (which maybe of less importance to the owner because she doesn’t run like a car) but being amphibian she is more than that, because being an aircraft one would later realize that she is in fact a 3-in-1 flying machine. She could taxi well on the freeway but her registry as an aircraft couldn’t afford her to, so such capability would be limited on the runway, taxiway, apron or ramp of any known airport. Her amphibious capability would be however incomparable since once you get her on the air, you just have to pick up a suitable clearing on  fairly calm bodies of water suitable for your fishing intentions (considering the depth and possible clearing for take-off) and she could splash for a landing to allow you to get your fishing gears ready. In an open sea, just don’t pick up a wave as big as a house suitable for surfing since she couldn’t clip her wings to ride the swell.

Image by http://www.seabee.info

                This unique aircraft was the brainchild of Percival H. Spencer. Having been inspired of an aircraft design which has the convenience of a car but with purposes that exceeds that of a common airplane, he began to concentrate on an amphibian airplane concept that brought the Seabee amphibian. Selling this design to Republic Aviation Corporation in December 1943, the design evolved from wooden components to an all metal construction which brought the RC-3 Seabee. With sales nearing 2,000 civilian orders by the end of 1944 for $3,500 the aircraft was a craze in sports aviation.  Now nearly 65 years after, the same aircraft design remains hot in the used aircraft market with prices ranging from $60K to $80K depending upon the status of upgrades on the engine or flight instruments. It fairly costs more than the most expensive fishing equipment but it allows one to launch his bait at the end of the rod a hundred miles farther…off the road and off the shore, you’re in a boat of sorts but you can forget the paddle.