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Seaglider Electric Scale Model Makes First Flights In Rhode Island

Regent Craft is developing a passenger-carrying prototype for sea trials in 2024.

Regent Craft's quarter-scale seaglider model has made its first test flights. [Courtesy: Regent Craft]
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Key Takeaways:

  • Regent Craft Inc. successfully completed test flights of its electric, quarter-scale seaglider demonstrator, an 18-foot wingspan radio-controlled craft, over Narragansett Bay.
  • Seagliders are wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vehicles designed to fly close to the water, using less energy than traditional aircraft, and Regent claims to have overcome previous WIG control difficulties with advanced digital flight software.
  • The company plans to develop full-size, passenger-carrying seagliders for coastal routes between major cities worldwide by 2025, with sea trials for the prototype scheduled to begin in 2024.
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Regent Craft Inc. says it recently completed a series of test flights with its seaglider technology demonstrator. The electric-powered, radio-controlled craft with an 18-foot wingspan is a quarter-scale model of a full-size, passenger-carrying prototype that is in the works. It made the flights over Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island.

The seaglider, also known as a WIG, or wing-in-ground-effect vehicle, resembles a seaplane but flies close to the surface in ground effect, which allows it to remain airborne while using less energy than it would flying at higher altitudes.

Jonathan Welsh

Jonathan Welsh is Lead Editor of Aviation Consumer and a private pilot who worked as a reporter, editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal for 21 years, mostly covering the auto industry. His passion for aviation began in childhood with balsa-wood gliders his aunt would buy for him at the corner store. Follow Jonathan on Twitter @JonathanWelsh4

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