Seversky SEV-3

The Seversky SEV-3 was an American three-seat amphibian monoplane, the first aircraft designed and built by the Seversky Aircraft Corporation, the company that later became Republic Aviation. It was an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane with a nose-mounted Wright J-6 Whirlwind radial engine of 420 horsepower, two tandem cockpits under sliding canopies, and either twin amphibious floats with wheels in the floats or a fixed tailwheel undercarriage with faired wheels. It first flew as a floatplane in June 1933 and was built in small numbers, mainly for export, including to Spain and Colombia. An SEV-3 set a world speed record for piston-engined amphibians in 1933, and a Wright Cyclone-powered example reached 230 miles per hour in 1935, a record that stood for 49 years. A landplane version became the BT-8 basic trainer, and the design started a line of Seversky aircraft that led to the P-35 and eventually the P-47 Thunderbolt.