sea gliders

[kalianna]

Won't disturb the whales, no pollution.  I wonder what people will object to?

https://www.khon2.com/local-news/hawaii-...-floating/

[leilanidude]

"The first seagliders, our 12-passenger Viceroy, are targeting delivery for 2025 in the United States, followed by operations around the globe. "
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They don't actually exist yet as far as I can tell? They do have a full-scale mock-up, for what that is worth.

https://www.regentcraft.com

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I didn’t see in the article, do they take off from an ocean port, an inter island airport, or other land?

…
I thought this sounded vaguely familiar, the name and concept rattling around in the back of my brain.  A year and a half ago it was announced Hawaiian Air was interested in the service:
https://punaweb.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=22786&highlight=Sea+glider

[terracore]

"I wonder what people will object to?"

"Since seagliders are a new class of vehicle, we do not capitalize the name."

I don't know what THAT is, but I object to it.

[kalakoa]

It will still be under TSA control with their one screening lane that doesn't stock spares.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

It will still be under TSA control 

With 12 passengers on a sea glider, TSA can probably probably wand and pat them down pretty quick, as long as Mokolele schedules their flights around cruise ship arrivals and departures. 

[terracore]

It will still be under TSA control with their one screening lane that doesn't stock spares.

I heard that since it doesn't have four wheels it's technically considered a motorcycle, so no TSA but in some states the passengers will be required to wear helmets.

[HiloJulie]

How will they get it over to Yamada and Sons for a weight certificate to get it registered??

[TomK]

This isn't a new concept, the Russians had a few in the military for while (Lun-class Ekranoplan) They take off from the water like a flying boat and use the ground effect to fly a few feet above the water. I suspect it works well when the weather is good, but I wouldn't fancy being on one if there's a big swell.

https://youtu.be/V8Nu94khHoo?si=W2VIEjOsZLqu6IDo
https://youtu.be/_symWK4T7n0?si=akptQCfi6J9bkYNF

[TomK]

Won't disturb the whales, no pollution.  I wonder what people will object to?

https://www.khon2.com/local-news/hawaii-...-floating/

I've no objection to the project, I love the idea, but would say that if one of those things flew over a pod of whales, they'd know about it and might not be very happy! I'm not sure about using the adjective "floating". A balloon floats, something moving at 180 mph isn't.