Project hopes to use seagliders for coastal travel

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Steven McKenzie and

John JohnstonBBC Scotland News

Amory Ross/Regent A visualisation of a Seaglider. It looks like an aircraft with curved wings and six small propellers on each wing. It has hydrofoils on its undercarriage and wings. The machine is shown flying low over the surface of the sea. The fuselage is painted white and blue and has five windows down its side.Amory Ross/Regent

Rhode island-based company Regent is developing the Seaglider

A vehicle that can cross water like a boat or a plane is being looked at as a possible transport solution for parts of Scotland.

US company Regent, which is developing the Seaglider technology, and Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (Hitrans) are in the early stages of a collaboration on the project.

Rhode Island-based Regent’s all-electric Viceroy Seaglider is designed to travel on water on its hull, or skim across surface on a hydrofoil and even fly at low level.

The company said the vehicle can carry 12 passengers and two crew and can reach speeds of 180mph.

A feasibility study is planned, and there could be potential for trials in the future.

Amory Ross/Regent The prototype Seaglider is moving slowly across the surface of the sea on a sunny day. The machine looks like an aircraft with curved wings and six small propellers on each wing. It has hydrofoils on its undercarriage and wings. The machine is shown flying low over the surface of the sea. The fuselage is painted white and blue, and has five windows down its side and the word "Regent".Amory Ross/Regent

Regent has been running tests on a prototype for the project

Regent has been running tests on a prototype, and Japan Airlines and US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin are among investors in the company’s vessels.

Adam Triolo, of Regent, said: “Our work with Hitrans is an exciting opportunity to showcase to Scotland and the Highlands communities the potential human and environmental benefits Seaglider vessels could have on coastal transportation.”

Hitrans is a Scottish government-approved transport partnership set up in the early 2000s for the Western Isles, Highlands, Moray, Orkney and Argyll and Bute.

Its regional sustainable aviation manager, David Holden, said: “This is a hugely exciting prospect for transport in the Highlands and Islands.

“Regent are bringing much needed innovation to coastal transportation which has the potential to transform how people travel across the Highlands and Islands in the future.”

He added: “We look forward to continuing to collaborate and help to realise the vision of Seaglider travel for the people of Scotland.”

Electric aircraft

Hitrans has been looking at other transport innovations as a way of connecting island and rural communities.

Last April, it said six large electric aircraft could potentially be used to fly passengers and freight on Scottish regional air routes.

Bedford-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) has been looking at how its Airlander 10 transport could operate from sites in Orkney, Shetland, Western Isles and the Highlands.

Full-scale production of the part-plane, part-airship could begin by the end of this decade.

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