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.