Lane Aviation Republic Seabee

Photograph of a Lane Aviation Seabee, 1947. The Seabee, an amphibious aircraft introduced in 1946, was designed by aviation pioneer Percival Spencer and manufactured by Republic Aircraft Corporation. Just over 1,000 Seabees were produced between 1946 and 1947, and many are still in operation. Lane Aviation Corporation, a fixed-base operation in Columbus, Ohio, was established as the Port Columbus Flying School in 1935 by Foster Lane and his wife, Ruth. The Ohio History of Flight Museum, located at Port Columbus, was the creation of Foster Lane, founder of Lane Aviation in Columbus, Ohio. It opened to the public in 1984 and gained a reputation as one of the top aviation resource centers in the United States. In 1999, its collection (which includes this image) was donated to the Ohio History Center