REGENT Craft has announced that it has begun hardware and systems integration of its full-scale seaglider prototype. The Viceroy seaglider prototype will provide technical validation of full-scale operations and offer the world’s first opportunity for a human to experience seaglider travel, according to the company.
Over the next few months, REGENT will be assembling major structural components and installing the critical onboard systems, including motors, batteries, electronics, mechanical systems, and vehicle control software. REGENT will begin sea trials with humans on board later this year.
“We’re moving more quickly than any other advanced electric mobility platform to create the world’s first passenger-carrying seaglider,” said Billy Thalheimer, Co-Founder and CEO, REGENT. “We’ve proven seagliders can successfully float, foil, and fly — the integration phase is a major moment that brings us closer to experiencing float, foil, and fly firsthand. I’m looking forward to getting onboard myself.”
After coming up with the idea for the seaglider in 2020, REGENT designed and operated a quarter-scale prototype over a period of 18 months, conducting hundreds of hours of on-water tests and demonstrating the world’s first seaglider flight. Last spring, the company unveiled a full-scale seaglider mockup.
REGENT recently received approval from the U.S. Coast Guard for its Navigational Safety Risk Assessment, which allows the company to test the prototype in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. This followed an extensive third-party analysis of navigational safety and consultation with more than 20 local stakeholders on environmental concerns and economic impacts from operations.
REGENT will test the prototype in its three modes: floating on the hull at the dock and in speed-restricted waterways, foiling on wave-tolerant hydrofoils in marked channels and commercially navigable waterways, and flying over the open water in ground effect, always staying within one wingspan of the surface of the water.
For more information
https://www.regentcraft.com/news/regent-begins-next-phase-of-full-scale-seaglider-prototype-development