2 ms·

Is this like an Ekranoplane EV?

andrewflnr 3y ago
Looks like it to me, too.
petre 3y ago
Yes, this is the craft, the Regent Viceroy sea glider: 12+2 crew, 3500 lbs payload, up to 156 nm range, 156 kt. It can fly an hour, might be okay for island hopping. https://www.regentcraft.com/seagliders/viceroy https://www.regentcraft.com/seagliders/viceroy
- Animats 3y ago
  When I go to the web sites of some of their "customers", there's no mention of this thing. Regent's own site says "Seagliders have 160 nautical mile range with existing battery technology (upgradeable to over 400 nautical mile range with next generation battery technology) and will enter service by 2025. Full-scale prototypes will begin human flight trials by 2024. Specifications and configuration are subject to change, images may not reflect the final vehicle design." I wonder what new battery technology they plan to use that they think will provide a 250% range increase. The 180mph top speed is impressive, but you're not going to be able to operate at that speed around other sea traffic. You need just the right situation for this thing - docks not too far apart, but far enough apart that an ordinary ferry is too slow. An area with so little sea traffic that it can go full speed. Long Beach to Catalina Island is out; you can't zip these things across a major shipping lane full of container ships. Wall Street to the Hamptons has the same problem. Not sure about inter-island in Hawaii. Probably more useful in areas with lots of small populated islands. East Asia, maybe. This thing is certainly buildable, but it seems to be more in the private jet category than a major transportation system.
  - petre 3y ago
    I know it's possibly vapour but I wish they build the craft and find a market for it to make it commercially viable. I was thinking Hawaii, Canary Islands, Azores, Balearic Islands, crossing between Sardinia and Corsica and from around Messina Sicily to mainland Italy, Japan, South Korea (eg. Wando-Jeju), NZ (eg. Wellington area to Waikawa or Picton). You don't need shipping port or ferry infrastructure for it, a smaller port or a marina with good acces to electricity might be enough. For the rest of SE Asia it might be too expensive, but it might be useful in the Philippines and Indonesia.
  - brigade 3y ago
    Hawaiian: https://newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/releases/regent-announces-a-strategic-investment-from-hawaiian-airlines https://newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/releases/regent-announ... JAL: https://press.jal.co.jp/en/items/uploads/7bd1bf3e9623f0ade78ace8909e8842f768de49c.pdf https://press.jal.co.jp/en/items/uploads/7bd1bf3e9623f0ade78... Mesa: https://www.mesa-air.com/regent https://www.mesa-air.com/regent Mokulele (owned by Southern) links to news report about it on their home page: https://mokuleleairlines.com https://mokuleleairlines.com The investments are real, but at least some of them might be more about the optics of investing in zero emissions planes rather than actually expecting these to enter service
  - krisoft 3y ago
    > The 180mph top speed is impressive, but you're not going to be able to operate at that speed around other sea traffic. > you can't zip these things across a major shipping lane full of container ships. Why not? At the speed this thing is flying the container ships are almost stationary. If we take the Long Beach to Catalina Island example the flight time would be on the order of 10 minutes. If you take the full speed of a container ship they can travel around 5 miles under that. If you plot a course which avoids them by that much they can't jump in front of the plane even if they try.

Looks like it to me, too.

Yes, this is the craft, the Regent Viceroy sea glider: 12+2 crew, 3500 lbs payload, up to 156 nm range, 156 kt. It can fly an hour, might be okay for island hopping. https://www.regentcraft.com/seagliders/viceroy https://www.regentcraft.com/seagliders/viceroy

Animats 3y ago
When I go to the web sites of some of their "customers", there's no mention of this thing. Regent's own site says "Seagliders have 160 nautical mile range with existing battery technology (upgradeable to over 400 nautical mile range with next generation battery technology) and will enter service by 2025. Full-scale prototypes will begin human flight trials by 2024. Specifications and configuration are subject to change, images may not reflect the final vehicle design." I wonder what new battery technology they plan to use that they think will provide a 250% range increase. The 180mph top speed is impressive, but you're not going to be able to operate at that speed around other sea traffic. You need just the right situation for this thing - docks not too far apart, but far enough apart that an ordinary ferry is too slow. An area with so little sea traffic that it can go full speed. Long Beach to Catalina Island is out; you can't zip these things across a major shipping lane full of container ships. Wall Street to the Hamptons has the same problem. Not sure about inter-island in Hawaii. Probably more useful in areas with lots of small populated islands. East Asia, maybe. This thing is certainly buildable, but it seems to be more in the private jet category than a major transportation system.
- petre 3y ago
  I know it's possibly vapour but I wish they build the craft and find a market for it to make it commercially viable. I was thinking Hawaii, Canary Islands, Azores, Balearic Islands, crossing between Sardinia and Corsica and from around Messina Sicily to mainland Italy, Japan, South Korea (eg. Wando-Jeju), NZ (eg. Wellington area to Waikawa or Picton). You don't need shipping port or ferry infrastructure for it, a smaller port or a marina with good acces to electricity might be enough. For the rest of SE Asia it might be too expensive, but it might be useful in the Philippines and Indonesia.
- brigade 3y ago
  Hawaiian: https://newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/releases/regent-announces-a-strategic-investment-from-hawaiian-airlines https://newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/releases/regent-announ... JAL: https://press.jal.co.jp/en/items/uploads/7bd1bf3e9623f0ade78ace8909e8842f768de49c.pdf https://press.jal.co.jp/en/items/uploads/7bd1bf3e9623f0ade78... Mesa: https://www.mesa-air.com/regent https://www.mesa-air.com/regent Mokulele (owned by Southern) links to news report about it on their home page: https://mokuleleairlines.com https://mokuleleairlines.com The investments are real, but at least some of them might be more about the optics of investing in zero emissions planes rather than actually expecting these to enter service
- krisoft 3y ago
  > The 180mph top speed is impressive, but you're not going to be able to operate at that speed around other sea traffic. > you can't zip these things across a major shipping lane full of container ships. Why not? At the speed this thing is flying the container ships are almost stationary. If we take the Long Beach to Catalina Island example the flight time would be on the order of 10 minutes. If you take the full speed of a container ship they can travel around 5 miles under that. If you plot a course which avoids them by that much they can't jump in front of the plane even if they try.