Regent's Viceroy Seaglider Makes Its First Flight With People On Board

Regent Craft reports that its seaglider prototype Viceroy has completed its first human-crewed flight, making it the largest all-electric wing-in-ground effect craft to fly with people on board.

The flight took place at the company's headquarters on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, with two captains aboard. The craft flew 1,956 feet, or 596 metres, at a height of 33 feet above the water for 30 seconds. The company describes the test as critical validation of the technology and the start of the programme's final stage of sea trials.

This is the moment we have been envisioning and tirelessly pursuing for the past five and a half years, said co-founder and chief executive Billy Thalheimer, adding that the company has successfully proven safe, efficient ground-effect flight. Co-founder and chief technology officer Mike Klinker said completing the test validates years of engineering and operational work and gives the company confidence to move into full-rate production.

The craft operates in three modes: float, foil and fly. It starts on its hull at low speed, transitions onto hydrofoils once clear of the dock, and then takes flight within one wingspan of the water's surface. The hydrofoil stage is what gives it wave tolerance and manoeuvrability in harbours and near coastlines, which is the part of the concept that has defeated earlier ground-effect designs. A triple-redundant digital control system manages stability autonomously, so that even in flight the captain handles the craft like a boat, in terms of direction and speed rather than pitch and altitude.

The production Viceroy is intended to fly at speeds up to 180 mph for up to 180 miles, seating 12 passengers and two crew. The team spent the summer increasing hydrofoiling speed in preparation for the flight, as part of a testing effort through 2026 spanning on-water operations and simulation. The company had previously demonstrated flight of its uncrewed Squire seaglider drone, which completed its first defence-specific ground-effect flight earlier this year.

Interest has come from ferry operators and shipping companies as well as regional airlines, and the company is developing a family of systems for military missions including contested logistics, medical and casualty evacuation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It holds a $15m contract with the US Marine Corps Warfighting Lab and a cooperative research agreement with US Special Operations Command.

Where this lands commercially is still open. A craft that operates from a dock, carries a marine master rather than a pilot and stays within a wingspan of the surface is regulated as a vessel rather than an aircraft, which is the regulatory argument the whole category rests on. The flight makes the technical case; the operating economics on a 180-mile coastal route remain to be demonstrated.