Control systems for Kestrels are virtually identical to modern aircraft. At cruise speed, twin rudders and elevons will be used to provide control. Thus, a HydroSki will not stall, i.e. abruptly cease providing the required lift. It will also exhibit much better laminar flow characteristics than a wing at a specific angle of attack. This makes the lift from the ski very predictable and results in much better static and dynamic stability.
Most modern airliners use relaxed static stability to reduce induced drag.
HydroSkis are designed to be statically and dynamically stable so that even with all four flight control computers inoperative, even the largest Kestrel would remain inherently controllable and could be maneuvered by the pilots through manual controls. The speeds at which HydroSkis travel makes frictional water erosion a design challenge. Protective coatings are extremely difficult to engineer for this application. They must be both extremely hard and, at the same time, sufficiently pliable not to shatter if the ski encounters a hard object. The first production and test HydroSkis will have a vapor deposition coating, similar to that used on the primary fan blades of jet engines.