is this a ground effect machine?
replies(4):
is this a ground effect machine?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXE0UTHnV5g
It is a ground effect vehicle.
"seaglider" is apparently a new word for ekranoplan. The difference is, the new ones tend not to be so enormous [1].
See e.g. https://www.regentcraft.com/seagliders/viceroy and https://www.hawaiiseaglider.org/what-is-a-seaglider
It's the same craft with a different paint job
Yes, they are Wing-in-Ground craft
I suspect that in this case "seaglider" is just REGENT's marketing name, rather than a term with broader uptake. All the places I'm seeing the name 'seaglider' used in this context look like REGENT's prospective customers.
The term is also being used for some underwater drones (see https://apl.uw.edu/project/project.php?id=seaglider and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaglider).
Sure, it seems to be this Regent that wants to make "seaglider" a thing.
You can understand why they don't use "ekranoplan" as the marketing term. Its going to only be familiar to those who are into Soviet History, Aviation trivia or specific Sci-Fi.
And it's not going to bring small, modern, electric craft to mind.
Thank you for bringing this up. All the marketing (and the "journalism" regurgitating it) are writing as though 'seaglider' is a word I ought to be familiar with, but have never encountered before. I had a lot of "these things seem a lot like an ekranoplane variant, but they're not calling them that" puzzlement.
I think the other commenter is correct, that it's one company (Regent) trying to make "Seaglider" a thing.
For obvious reasons - which word would you rather introduce to the public: "Ekranoplan", or "Seaglider".
If anyone else is working on modern Ekranoplans, I'd like to know. But AFAIK, it's just one company working on it, and promoting it.