Regent demonstrates wing-in-ground craft ahead of 2027 production

Regent Craft put its two wing-in-ground-effect vehicles through public flight demonstrations on 30 September, showing the all-electric craft it calls seagliders to investors, customers, suppliers and journalists at Narragansett Bay.

Squire, the company's military drone still in development, flew first under a remote pilot. Viceroy, the passenger prototype meant for commercial coastal routes, began its take-off run and then aborted. Larry Wirsing, Regent's vice-president of programmes, said the operators wanted a headwind and got a tailwind of 2-4kt (4-7km/h) instead. The craft was repositioned and flew successfully on the second attempt.

The Rhode Island company also showed its new manufacturing facility in North Kingstown, covering 23,700sq m (255,000sq ft). Production is targeted to begin in 2027.

Regent calls the vehicles seagliders, but they are WIG craft: winged, floating machines that leave the water and travel close to the surface inside ground effect, an aerodynamic regime in which lift rises and drag falls.

The flights follow tests Regent has run since Viceroy was damaged in hydrofoil stress testing in Narragansett Bay in October 2025. Wirsing said the damage occurred as the company ran Viceroy at increasing speeds, when an instability and what he described as biomechanical coupling with the operator caused an outrigger to strike the water, damaging the wing.

On certification, the company says the US Coast Guard is the lead authority for the ground-effect craft, with the FAA assisting on aviation-specific matters.