Passenger-carrying Regent seaglider commences sea testing

All-electric seaglider developer Regent Craft has started the crewed on-water tests of its full-scale seaglider prototype, paving the way for the first WIG (wing in ground effect) flight towards the middle of 2025.

The full-scale craft (this example christened ‘Paladin’) builds on the successful flight of a quarter-scale prototype in 2022, with the start of water testing following “months of rigorous sub-scale testing of the critical onboard systems”. Describing the sea trials as “just the beginning,” Regent co-founder and CEO Billy Thalheimer added: “Today, we’re one step closer to meeting what we have now validated as massive global market demand for seagliders”.

At 55ft long with a 65ft wingspan, the 12-passenger Viceroy craft “is the largest-ever all-electric flying machine and represents a novel mode of transportation,” explained the Rhode Island-based developer and manufacturer. The vessel, which operates exclusively over water, does so on one of three ways: floating on its hull, hydrofoiling above the waves, and flying in ground effect within one wingspan of the water’s surface. The craft has a projected range of 180 miles on a single charge, travelling at up to 180mph.

Regent states it has already accumulated an order book worth over $9 billion from customers around the world, having raised more than $90 million in funding since its founding in 2020 from investors including Japan Airlines, Lockheed Margin, 8090 Industries and Founders Fund.

Alongside an ongoing partnership with the US Marine Corps, a partnership signed with Abu Dhabi-based private investment company Strategic Development Fund (SDF) will also establish a joint venture to bring manufacturing capabilities, maintenance services and crew training to the UAE.