Quonset’s REGENT Completes First Crewed Seaglider Flight Over Narragansett Bay

The milestone flight makes the new technology the largest all-electric, wing-in-ground effect vehicle to fly with people on board.

8 hours ago

Lauren Clem,

A white REGENT Seaglider flies over the water with trees visible on the shore in the background.

REGENT’s Viceroy Seaglider takes flight over Narragansett Bay. (Photo courtesy of REGENT)

A Rhode Island company has made history by launching the largest craft of its kind to fly with people on board.

REGENT, the company looking to manufacture Seagliders out of Quonset, announced this week it has completed its first crewed test flight of Viceroy, the company’s full-scale Seaglider prototype, on Narragansett Bay. The milestone flight makes it the largest-ever all-electric, wing-in-ground effect vehicle to fly with people on board.

“This is the moment we have been envisioning and tirelessly pursuing for the past five-and-a-half years: REGENT has successfully proven safe, efficient ground-effect flight,” says Billy Thalheimer, co-founder and chief executive officer of REGENT.

REGENT, the subject of an October 2025 feature story in Rhode Island Monthly, was founded in 2020 by Thalheimer along with co-founder and chief technology officer Mike Klinker. The company is developing an all-electric craft that uses wing-in-ground technology to take off from the water and fly a short distance above the water’s surface. The founders envision the Seaglider as a new, cheaper solution for short-haul transportation routes currently served by ferries or regional flights.

According to an announcement, the first crewed Viceroy flight took place at the company’s headquarters in Quonset with a crew of two captains aboard. The Seaglider flew a distance of 1,956 feet at a height of thirty-three feet over the water for thirty seconds.

The company relocated to Quonset from the Boston area in 2022 and since then, has been testing its models on Narragansett Bay. A smaller, quarter-scale model, named Squire, completed a test flight on the bay in 2022. The founders say the Viceroy model that flew this week will be able to hold twelve passengers at capacity.

“Completing this flight test validates years of rigorous engineering and operational work and gives us the confidence to move into full-rate production,” says Klinker. “We showed today that flying a Seaglider is every bit as smooth and safe as we designed it to be. I can’t wait to get onboard and to share the experience with others as we make our vision for the future of maritime mobility a reality.”

In addition to its corporate offices and testing facility, REGENT completed construction in June on a 255,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Quonset. The company plans to manufacture the vessels for passenger use as well as military applications under its REGENT Defense branch.

REGENT had originally targeted the first test flight of the Viceroy model for last fall, but the timeline faced setbacks. Last October, a Seaglider prototype was damaged during an on-water hydrofoiling test. According to the company, the Viceroy test flight marks the start of the final stage of sea trials, which will continue through 2026.

To read more about REGENT and Seaglider technology, see Rhode Island Monthly’s feature story here.