2024-01-22 20:00:00
The manufacturer Regent has just announced an initiative to deploy its first Seaglider aircraft in Hawaii next year. These hybrid electric, hydrofoil and ground-effect aircraft might revolutionize transport in the archipelagos while eliminating greenhouse emissions.
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How to decarbonize transport between islands, particularly in archipelagos? Whether on a plane or on a boat, the batteries are too heavy or not powerful enough. The Regent company offers an alternative with Seaglider, a hybrid electric device that combines both a hydrofoil (or hydrofoil, in English) with a ground effect aircraft.
A hydrofoil is a boat with several submerged wings that lift the hull out of the water above a certain speed. This reduces drag, which saves energy. By integrating this function into an aircraft, the Seaglider will be able to take off on water using much less energy.
Testing a prototype of a Seaglider, a quarter the size of the Viceroy model. © Regent
First commercial flights might begin in 2025
The Seaglider will then fold the wings of the hydrofoil part to fly just above the water, and thus benefit from ground effect. This aerodynamic phenomenon works like an air cushion, reducing the energy needed to carry heavy loads. Thus, the Viceroy Seaglider model will be able to reach a cruising speed of 300 km/h by flying between 9 and 18 meters above the water surface, for a range of 300 kilometers. The aircraft will be able to carry two crew members as well as 12 passengers, or 1,600 kilos of cargo. It will thus be much faster than a boat and less affected by wave height, while being less noisy and less expensive than a plane.
Regent has just announced The Hawai’i Seaglide Initiative, a partnership with local private and public actors to prepare the launch of a network of these devices in the Hawaiian archipelago. The airline Mokulele Airlines indicates that it has ordered several Viceroy Seaglider aircraft which should be delivered “ mid-decade », or potentially as early as next year. Regent said larger models might carry up to 150 passengers, and performance is expected to increase as battery technology evolves.
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