The Seversky SEV-3 was an American three-seat amphibian monoplane, the first aircraft designed and built by the Seversky Aircraft Corporation.

Design and development

The SEV-3 was an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane powered by a nose-mounted 420 hp (313 kW) Wright J-6 Whirlwind radial engine. It had two cockpits in tandem, a forward cockpit for the pilot and a rear cockpit for two passengers, both with sliding canopies. It could either be fitted with twin amphibious floats which had main wheels fitted in the floats to allow it to operate from land, or with a fixed

tailwheel undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

with the mainwheels enclosed in large fairings.Green and Swanborough ''Air Enthusiast'' Ten, pp. 9–10. The SEV-3 first flew as a floatplane in June 1933, demonstrating excellent performance as both an amphibian and a landplane.Green and Swanborough ''Air Enthusiast'' Ten, p. 9. It was built in small numbers mainly for export. SEV-3 and Seversky

Operational history

An SEV-3 established a world speed record for piston-engined amphibians in 1933, and on 15 September 1935, a Wright Cyclone-powered SEV-3 set a record of 230 mph (370.8 km/h) which stood for 49 years. A landplane version was also developed with conventional landing gear. The design influenced a long line of Seversky and later Republic aircraft, eventually leading to the development of the

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

. A landplane version was used by the United States Army Air Corps as a basic trainer with the designation BT-8, 30 of which were ordered in 1935. This proved grossly underpowered and was quickly replaced by the

North American BT-9 The North American BT-9 was the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) designation for a low-wing single engine monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served before and during World War II. It was a contemporary of the Boeing-Stearman PT-13 K ...

. One BT-8 was delivered to

Bolling Field The origins of the surname Bolling: English language, English: from a nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling "pollard", or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling "excessive drinking". German ...

, on 11 June 1936, for use by Chief of the Air Corps Major General

Oscar Westover Oscar M. Westover (July 23, 1883 – September 21, 1938) was a Major general (United States), major general and fourth chief of the United States Army Air Corps. Early life and career Westover was born in Bay City, Michigan, and enlisted in the ...

, and assigned to the

14th Bombardment Squadron The 14th Bombardment Squadron was a squadron of the United States Army Air Forces. The squadron fought in the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42), much of its aircraft being destroyed in combat against the Japanese. The survivors of the gr ...

, GHQ Air Force. It replaced an O-38F, which was reassigned to the

21st Observation Squadron First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, GHQ Air Force, for general flying.

Operators

; *

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...

; *

Colombian Air Force The Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC, ) is the air force of the Republic of Colombia. The Colombian Aerospace Force is one of the three institutions of the Military Forces of Colombia charged, according to the 1991 Constitution, with working to exe ...

Variants

;SEV-3XAR : Landplane trainer ;SEV-3XLR :Landplane ;SEV-3M-WW :Amphibian for the Colombian Air Force, six built (only delivered four to Colombia), with Wright Whirlwind engines. ;BT-8 :Landplane basic-trainer for the United States Army Air Corps, developed from SEV-3XAR. 30 built. ;SEV-X-BT: multi-discipline trainer version of the BT-8 with retractable undercarriage. The sole SEV-X-BT lost in competition to the

and was reportedly scrapped for spares to service the

Seversky 2PA The Seversky P-35 is an American fighter aircraft built by the Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in United States Army Air Co ...

Specifications (BT-8)

Design and development

Operational history

Operators

Variants

Specifications (BT-8)

See also

References

Further reading