Rethinking how people travel along coasts
On September 2, 2026, REGENT Craft, an American aerospace startup, carried out the first-ever crewed flight of an electric ground-effect vehicle, called Viceroy, near the Rhode Island coast. With two pilots on board, the craft covered 596 meters in just 30 seconds while cruising 10 meters above the water. The main goal was to assess the basic aerodynamic behavior of this novel vehicle. Wing-in-ground-effect machines like this occupy a middle ground between boats and planes: they stay close to the surface instead of climbing high, using the airflow compressed beneath their wings to create lift.
Understanding the Viceroy's design
The Viceroy combines elements of a seaplane fuselage, hydrofoils, and an air cushion. Twelve electric motors line the wing's leading edge, and a triple-redundant fly-by-wire system automatically governs pitch, roll, and altitude.
Older ekranoplans typically relied on the compressed air cushion between a stubby wing and the water surface, which made them useful for hauling very heavy loads. But Soviet military projects with that layout suffered from poor handling and stability, especially in storms.
The outlet New Atlas reported on the successful test, saying the flight is an important step for the next generation of transport.
The Viceroy could therefore prove pivotal for coastal routes that currently depend on ferries. It also points toward cleaner, more flexible short-distance mobility: its electric drive promises lower emissions than conventional ships, and successful future tests could make it a common way to move passengers and cargo along coastlines, easing congestion on roads and reducing pressure on ferry networks.