U.S. Senator Jack Reed Visits Moore Brothers Company

From left: Oliver Moore (Moore Brothers, Director), Billy Thalheimer (Regent CEO), Senator Jack Reed, Michael Klinker (Regent CTO), Sam Moore (Moore Brothers, Director)

U.S. Senator Jack Reed visited Moore Brothers Company in July for a tour of our facilities. Oliver Moore spoke to Senator Reed about the current projects, including the large-scale REGENT project.

REGENT is developing a line of seagliders that operate exclusively over water, traversing the sea in one of three modes: hull, hydrofoil, or flight in ground effect. Moore Brothers Company built the REGENT prototype, which underwent successful sea trials last year. MBC is currently building the first full-scale craft for REGENT.

REGENT plans to conduct passenger-carrying sea trials in 2024 and is targeting a 2025 entry date for its new line of seagliders for commercial use. 

Senator Reed, a member of the Appropriations and Armed Services Committees, has worked at the federal level to make Rhode Island a leader in maritime technology.

“We are constantly looking for ways to strengthen Rhode Island’s blue economy.  This is innovative technology that could make coastal transportation more efficient, eco-friendly, and cost-effective.  I’m pleased to see REGENT bringing more jobs to Rhode Island and tapping into the state’s composite manufacturing and research network,” said Senator Reed in a press release on his website.

“It was exciting to share with Senator Reed our current projects, including the large-scale REGENT project,” said Co-owner and co-founder of Moore Brothers Company, Oliver Moore. “The partnership between us and REGENT is one that we hope to sustain for years to come, and hopefully attract other innovative partnerships as well.”

Moore Brothers Company Will Build Full-Scale Seaglider Components for REGENT

REGENT unveiled it’s life-size model of a passenger carrying seaglider, known as Viceroy, in Rhode Island

REGENT announced on May, 22nd, 2023 that Moore Brothers Company will be the main partner in creating the necessary components for the 65-foot carbon composite wing and hull for the company’s full-scale seaglider prototype. 

“We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with Moore Brothers as a preferred vendor for building seagliders,” said Billy Thalheimer, co-founder and CEO of REGENT, in a press release announcing the partnership. “They have been an incredibly valuable partner throughout our journey. Their expertise and familiarity with our seaglider design and technology coupled with their unparalleled work ethic will be a significant contribution to beginning our full-scale sea trials in Rhode Island next year.”

“We’re excited to continue working with REGENT and extend the long legacy of maritime innovation in Rhode Island.” Said Sam Moore.

REGENT’s all-electric seagliders will operate over water and carry passengers to and from destinations along coastlines. The vehicles use existing battery technology and are designed to carry passengers and cargo up to 180 miles on a single charge. Last year,REGENT conducted sea trials on Narragansett Bay for a model-sized craft, which were successful. The company expects to begin human-operated flight tests with the full-scale prototype by 2024, with commercial vehicles entering service by mid-decade. REGENT has already obtained $8 billion in orders from major airlines and leading ferry operators in 5 different continents

With the new contract from REGENT, Moore Brothers Company is happy to announce that we are looking to expand our team and hire 8 composite technicians that have out of autoclave prepreg lamination experience. We are also looking for a supply chain and logistics analyst.  

Interested applicants can apply by sending an email to info@moorebro.co.

Scaling Up Production for REGENT

On April 14th, 2023 REGENT unveiled it’s life-size model of a passenger carrying seaglider known as Viceroy in Quonset, Rhode Island. The seaglider was built by Moore Brothers Company over a period of four months.

The event began at 9am with hundreds of people in attendance, including Rhode Island’s Governor, Dan McKee, Senator Jack Reed and representatives of aviation companies like Mokulele Airlines, Southern Airways Company and Mesa Airlines.

Governor Dan Mckee speaking at the REGENT unveiling in Quonset, Rhode Island.

REGENT’s Viceroy will use hydrofoils and flight-in-ground effect (lifting of the horizontal surface of an aircraft wing when it is close to the ground or water) to transport up to 12 passengers up to 160 nautical miles with zero carbon emissions. Sea trials of Viecroy are to begin this year and according to REGENT’s CEO Billy Thalheimer, will begin full-scale operation in 2025.

It was announced at the unveiling that Mokulele Airlines bought 25 seagliders for operations in Hawai’i. Chairman and CEO of Mokulele Airlines and Southern Airways, Stan Little said he was “thrilled” to be taking the first Viceroys into operation.

Chairman and CEO of Mesa Airlines, Jonathan Ornstein said that he originally thought the idea of seagliders transporting passengers was “the kookiest idea that I’ve ever heard,” but now he sees how much opportunity there is to utilize them, especially since they do not need to be approved by the FAA or carry a pilot as the seagliders will fly below 400 feet.

“Innovation is so important to Rhode Island right now,” said Governor McKee. He also said that the momentum for innovation will be built upon “young and innovative ideas.”

The Moore Brothers Company will continue to be an integral part of the production of the Viceroy seagliders and are expanding operations.

A special thanks goes out to Lyman Morse who built the tail and machined a ton of the foam, as well as Symmetrix Composite Tooling who helped make the nose and the outriggers. GT3 Creative did all the vinyling and graphics with a herculean effort. Zach Parent and his team at Ocean State Composites led the charge on the subcontractor work and the team at Itchi Bahn Yacht Painters for their stellar paint work.