Skylance

Skylances are a brand new technology that is still finding its legs in the world. This aircraft is a sleek, lightweight, metal-alloy ship, without sails. In addition to a rudder, aileron fins are added to the sides of the ship to help control and stabilize it in flight. The ship utilizes a combination of two Aetherdynamo systems to facilitate flight. The Thrustdynamo is optimized for Drain and Surge Power, containing a powerful Fire Elemental within its Mastershard. During takeoff and landing, the Thrustdynamo operates at Surge Power, rapidly accelerating or decelerating the craft through a turbine propulsion system. During normal flight, the Thrustdynamo operates at Drain Power, working its way through a high quantity of Aethershard arrays. The quantity of arrays, and weight of the aircraft determine the distance it can fly. A second Aethernydmo, the Liftdynamo, is optimized for Sustain Power, containing an Air Elemental. The Liftdynamo is used to help stabilize the flight of the aircraft, manipulate the leading edges, and provide minute vectoring and course correction as needed.
Skylances are the fastest and most direct method of transport in the world, but are limited by a variety of factors. The first is weight. The Skylance requires careful management of weight distribution and weight limits to remain airworthy. The second limiting factor is infrastructure. The Skylance is designed to takeoff and land in water. The Liftdynamo provides an air cushion during takeoff to reduce friction form the water, and breaks the surface tension of the water during landing. The water also acts as a natural braking mechanism during landing, in addition to deployed chutes. This requires a water landing strip large enough to land on, which varies by the size of the Skylance. All these factors limit Skylances to waterways, or large cities that build a waterstrip for them to land on.