all this "Hawaii environment is fragile fly with us" hullabaloo to fly a 2 seater plane?
Looks like there are other models that vary more than 2: https://www.regentcraft.com/
The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
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Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#12Wasn't there a ferry transportation service that got canned due to environmental concerns? Seems hard to imagine planes doing better on that front.
It was canned because of lobbying by the local airlines and car rental joints which were way more established.
Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#13> A preliminary survey of Hawai‘i residents showed they are concerned that seagliders will only be affordable to the affluent and may result in an increased tax burden on Hawai‘i’s residents. The survey also showed that residents are concerned that seagliders may produce some form of ecological damage either near shore or in the areas surrounding the harbors. Others expressed their concern about how seagliders can po…
Seems like the usual “all change is bad” reaction you see around most initiatives. All the alternatives have similar downsides or worse.
Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#14This is so cool, I hope they try to coral a diverse collection of local stakeholders because these things in hawaii tend to die by the hand of protestors who are a very vocal minority.
Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#15Something also planned for New Zealand too: https://www.oceanflyer.co.nz/
Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#16Wasn't there a ferry transportation service that got canned due to environmental concerns? Seems hard to imagine planes doing better on that front.
It's electric, whereas most boats still use pretty dirty fuel sources, however the damage possibilities from direct collision with wildlife are real.
Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#17Wasn't there a ferry transportation service that got canned due to environmental concerns? Seems hard to imagine planes doing better on that front.
It's electric, whereas most boats still use pretty dirty fuel sources, however the damage possibilities from direct collision with wildlife are real.
Wrong kind of environmental concerns from what locals have told me. The issues were more about increased traffic from Oahu to the less populated islands and people taking things that have been made more or less extinct on Oahu like opihi or the lava rocks used for cooking kalua pig.
Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#18Wasn't there a ferry transportation service that got canned due to environmental concerns? Seems hard to imagine planes doing better on that front.
its a ground effect plane - they can be a bit more efficient vs traditional ferries and airplanes especially in a role were it just relatively short hops between islands.
Also since its effectively float-able by design it has the potential to be very safe even if its propulsion breaks during the trip. you could just send another plane to take the passengers off then take the broken plane home pulled by a ship. This capability should be designed in.
The limited trip length might even lend itself to concepts that are fully or partially battery powered.
one downside is that the plane might not be able to be used in rougher weather.
Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#19Wasn't there a ferry transportation service that got canned due to environmental concerns? Seems hard to imagine planes doing better on that front.
its a ground effect plane - they can be a bit more efficient vs traditional ferries and airplanes especially in a role were it just relatively short hops between islands. Also since its effectively float-able by design it has the potential to be very safe even if its propulsion breaks during the trip. you could just send another plane to take the passengers off then take the broken plane home pulled by a ship. This c…
It’s all electric, yes
Re: The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands
#20Wow, this technology is quite fascinating! It's possible that they might consider updating it to a more established version with greater capacity, which has been known and is operating since 1961. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BE...
You've linked to a hydrofoil boat, which is quite different. The Seaglider is much faster, up to 180 mph (vs. the hydrofoils 77 kph / 48 mph). https://beatofhawaii.com/hawaii-seaglider-flies-forward-with...
OP may have been thinking of the Russian ekranoplans, which are similar nautical ground effect vehicles capable of 400± mph.