Developer of the battery-powered advanced air mobility (AAM) Viceroy seaglider, REGENT announced it is continuing testing of its quarter-scale version of the craft nearly nine months after the diminutive prototype successfully performed its inaugural trial outing.
REGENT said it had again tested the 1/4 version of its Viceroy AAM seaglider on Narragansett Bay, off the coast of its Rhode Island headquarters. After announcing its initial trial flight last September, the company unveiled the full-scale version of its flagship craft in March, saying it plans to begin putting that plane through the aerial paces starting next year.
Read more: REGENT unveils full-scale prototype, manufacturing plans for its electric seaglider
To make that target date, REGENT is upping its testing efforts of the small-scale version of its Viceroy AAM craft. The full-sized all-electric, 12-passenger seaglider is being developed to fly up to 180 miles at 180 mph between coastal destinations.
By operating exclusively over water, the plane uses what’s known as an in-ground-wing effect, in which a foil lifts the plane 10 to 25 feet above the surface, assuring smooth flight on a pillow of air.
“Going up?” REGENT asked in a tweet featuring a video of the small version of Viceroy as the AAM plane rose in flight slightly above the glassy surface of the inlet. “Earlier this week, we tested our 1/4 scale #seaglider in the waters of Narragansett Bay. We’re excited by our progress and can’t wait to see our full-scale seaglider #FloatFoilFly!”
REGENT says it has already signed deals for over 400 seagliders with airlines and other air transport companies that operate over water. The value of those orders is estimated at over $8 billion in a seaglider market the company believes may eventually be worth as much as $25 billion.
Read: New funding lifts diversified development of REGENT’s seaglider
Both that potential future activity and the demand it has already attracted has led the company to begin adding 600,000 square feet of manufacturing space to its existing facilities, with the objective of filling initial customer orders sometime around mid-decade.
Among the accords that REGENT has signed so far are agreements with passenger carriers like Hawaiian Airlines, Mesa Airlines, New Zealand’s Ocean Flyer, and Germany’s FRS.
It has also struck a partnership with Southern Airlines and its Hawaiian interisland unit Mokulele Airlines, which will be the first carrier to receive REGENT’s initial seaglider production craft.
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