The S-12 was a fabric covered amphibian with a unique boxlike forward cabin; a high wing with a two-bladed propeller in pusher configuration; and a long, slender tail boom.

[citation needed] In December 1941 Spencer put the Air Car into storage and joined the war effort as a test pilot for the Republic Aircraft Corporation.

[citation needed] The aircraft was displayed in St Louis, Missouri, in December and by the end of 1944 Republic had received 1,972 civilian orders for the $3,500 airplane.

[2] In order to meet the anticipated postwar demand for civilian light aircraft, Republic endeavored to build the Seabee as inexpensively as possible, while still retaining reasonable performance and range.

Though this was far from the 5,000 Seabees per year Republic had hoped to sell, it still represented a significant number of airplanes compared to other struggling aircraft companies of the same era.

By that time the demand for civilian aircraft had shown itself to be far less than anticipated and the company turned its attention back to military contracts, developing the successful F-84 Thunderjet, which was built on the same assembly lines formerly used to build the Seabee.

[citation needed] Seabees became popular in Canada and the US and were also well-suited for operation in countries with long coastlines, many islands and lakes and large areas of wilderness.

By the time production ended, 108 Seabees had been exported to several countries and dealerships were established in Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Fiji, New Caledona, South Africa, England, Norway and Sweden.

Twenty-three Seabees were converted to a twin-engine variant known as the United Consultants Twin Bee with the fitting of two wing-mounted engines driving tractor propellers.

[citation needed] Modifications to increase the engine size, wingspan, cargo carrying capacity, controls, trim activation, environmental systems, landing light and many others have been available since the early 1970s.