No emissions,
no worries.
Seaflight is accelerating an electric and equitable future for flight
FAQ
Q: Are you a logistics company, a robotics company, or an aircraft company?
A: Yes.
Hundreds of millions of people live in places that are not currently
cost-effective or even possible to serve with conventional flown cargo.
It's a massive economic handbrake.
Let's change that with electric flight.
TECH TO CUT
COSTSEMISSIONSTIMEWORRIES
Seaflight is developing a service starting with our remote-piloted electric wingships.
They're a cross between a plane and a boat. They can take off and land on water, and can fly at ultra-low altitude for enhanced efficiency - within a wingspan of the water.
That means range AND payload from an electric powertrain, not a choice of one or the other.
Seaflight = efficiency
Electrifying the flight of heavy stuff is really hard...
We need to stop asking batteries to solve everything, and start letting aerodynamics do the heavy lifting (literally).
We double the range or payload compared to normal electric flight.
This means we can create a network - now - that represents an agile new layer in cargo logistics, built on tech that has a low total cost of ownership and a low $/ton-mile.
No future miracles required.
Three critical unlocks achieve up to 70% reduction in cost with typo-level margins.
1. Flying in ground effect: advanced flight controls Cruising within a few meters of the surface of the sea gives Seaflight's wingships nearly double the efficiency of a conventional electric aircraft, riding a cushion of high pressure. With modern sensors and control systems for safe, reliable flight, this is how Seaflight greatly reduces the pack capacity needed for a given mission. Or, for a given payload, we can nearly double available range. With no future battery miracles needed and only maritime rather than aviation regulations in most parts of the world, the advantages combine to offer dramatically reduced costs and a much faster path to market than conventional aviation.
2. Reliable, robust sense and avoid Flight in the maritime environment has to be as safe as possible. We're not re-inventing the wheel here - with partners who are experts in the space, we're extending what's already available, tested and proven for maritime and aerial operations featuring remote piloting with sensor fusion. This is a problem at least two orders of magnitude more simple than self-driving cars. With intelligent route planning, we have virtually no close interaction with other maritime traffic - we're a friendly presence that has the luxury of being able to stay out of everyone's way.
Funded by the National Science Foundation
3. Aerodynamic flow control: ultra-high lift In order to take off and land in incredibly short distances (10x less than a normal seaplane) without requiring extra propulsion that adds a lot of mass, cost, and maintenance, we've developed proprietary aerodynamic flow control. With a very simple, low cost and low maintenance approach, we are able to triple aerodynamic lift when we need it, without otherwise affecting the performance of the craft by adding drag or weight. This is technology that can benefit all electric/electrified aircraft of any type - and opens up a path for us to extend the reach of our tech far beyond our initial ambitions.
About Seaflight
Seaflight was part of the Y Combinator Summer '22 batch. We're backed by world-class venture capital firms and the National Science Foundation. We're moving fast to develop the tech and the partnerships to get to market with a product that can make a real impact to millions of people now, not 10 years from now.
The founding team
Dr. Graham Doig
Co-founder &
In Charge of Seaflight
Graham is recognized internationally as a leading expert in "ground effect" aerodynamics. He has 19 years of experience with electric mobility for both aviation and automotive applications, with a PhD from UNSW Sydney, and a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Glasgow. Graham led the aerodynamics team & championed the range attribute at commercial delivery EV startup Canoo (Walmart) from early though SPAC. As a Lockheed Martin Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Graham worked with partners like NASA, Tesla, and Joby Aviation. He's written or co-authored over 90 peer-reviewed papers on aerodynamics. He designed 2 solar-electric vehicles that set world land speed records, and one that didn't.
Will Sutton
Co-founder &
In Charge of Operations
Will has over 7 years of experience building unique prototype vehicles and uncrewed aircraft, including with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' SkyGuardian/ SeaGuardian platforms. At GA, he ran technical project management on the production effort for the world’s first Type-Certifiable UAS. He holds a Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, where he also built up the Prototype Vehicles Lab from scratch as the original project manager for a solar-electric car project. When not actively trying to bring humanity closer to Star Trek, William enjoys playing guitar and building surfboards.
we're proudly backed by
National Science Foundation
Seaflight is located in Carson, California.
About halfway between LAX and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
You know... for symbolism.