Pinned
1/15 When I pitch @regentcraft, investors are often excited, but high on their list is a foundational question that all new technology companies must answer.
"Why now?"
Here's how I respond 🧵👇
Billy Thalheimer
2,144 posts
Billy Thalheimer
@billythalheimer
Co-founder & CEO @regentcraft: Building the future of maritime mobility one Seaglider at a time regentcraft.com
00:00- A seaplane pushing wave tolerance to its max. 🌊 Check out this Twin Otter in its max sea state of about 2 ft. Bouncing and bobbing over the waves until it just barely gets airborne, and that’s only because of a significant headwind. Landing in these conditions would be even
00:00 - Enter the seaglider era. The world's first seaglider has hit the water! Room for 12 passengers and 100% battery powered. The test vehicle is human-crewed from Day 1. 65ft wingspan 15,000 lbs Sea Trials are underway! So proud of this team. Flight coming this summer 🌊✈️
00:00 - Never pivoted - just been here Hardware is the way 🏗️
the winners have pivoted from software to hardware in time. I'm telling you, if you are in software; pivot to hardware. now is the best time. - .@elonmusk come to RI to see it fly this summer! We have lots of confidence from our earlier unmanned prototype testing
00:00 - I’m excited to announce that REGENT has taken flight! 🛫 We combined the benefits from ground effect flight, distributed electric propulsion, and hydrofoiling into a single platform: the seaglider Which will massively improve convenience & affordability of regional travel 🧵👇
GIF - This is one of my favorite shots that shows exactly how efficient the hydrofoils are. Look at how hard our support boats are working. Pushing all that water out of the way, creating a massive wake, bouncing up and down. And their engines are loud! By contrast, the Seaglider is
00:00 - Love this view! 😍 Soon the world will be very familiar with looking out the window of a seaglider…
- Let's talk wing design! Why does a Seaglider wing look different from the wing-in-ground craft that came before it? 🧵
- Oh yes we have a larger version in the works. The prototype we're testing now is our 12-passenger Viceroy. Next up: the 100-passenger Monarch seaglider
Replying to @billythalheimer and @elonmuskelectric ground effect, that's awesome. i wonder if it can get to ekranoplan size or bigger? - The Maritime Renaissance is well underway 🌊 So many cool projects going on at the intersection of hardware, software, and the 71% of Earth covered in water. Check out a few particularly exciting ones! 👇🧵 (And if I missed you - let me know!)
- Actually seagliders will be VERY hard to see You can see torpedos via sonar You can see drones via radar Seagliders fly in the surface clutter in between Plus they're quiet and can go all-electric for no thermal signature too. We're working with SOCOM to characterize this.
GIFReplying to @billythalheimerIsn't this just a torpedo that's a lot easier to see? - Today, Secretary Hegseth unlocked the biggest hard-tech customer on the planet. The DOW's acquisition reforms open the door for startups like @regentcraft to compete for business from Day 1 instead of Year 5. Capitalism will completely transform the defense industrial base.Hegseth: "Today, at my direction, the defense acquisitions system as you know it is dead. It's now the warfighting acquisitions system. This isn't just a name change."
00:00
