Construction Takes Priority

With our very tight schedule to test fly the first production vehicle before winter sets in, we are in a situation where it doesn’t make sense to exhibit at AirVenture this July.  The timing hits just when we should be getting the body finished and would need to install the hybrid system, so neither of the two things that we could show would be available.  The best use of our resources, (both people and money) is to stay focused on completing our first production Switchblade.

Sam (and hopefully Martha) will be at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Wednesday July 23rd to meet with Switchblade supporters and to see some suppliers at the show. We will set up a time and place closer to the event, so watch for that in future Newsletters. While we will miss displaying at the show, our hearts are with the EAA community and our fellow Futurists!

Left front quarter panel mold

Belly pan mold

The parts and molds keep coming!

The engineers have moved on to the sub-assemblies after completing the shell and major structure engineering. There are still some key pieces in the works, structurally, but the basic layouts and design work is done. Composite Approach in Redmond, Oregon, is continuing to make our molds, in addition to exterior parts of the vehicle so we can build the first production body.

You can see some of the latest molds in the images above. These are front quarter panels and the hood/roof. We have finished the radiator duct design and are almost complete with the intercooler duct in the engine bay. This is difficult and critical design work, and we have come a long way in our ability to predict cooling air flow through these systems.

The intent is to work it out using software modeling of the duct, so we get good airflow. Then we just adjust the thickness of radiator to match the cooling required. It is an easier thing to handle just one variable (thickness of the radiator) when flight and ground testing. Hopefully we will nail it the first time, but we will have several choices just in case. The image below is a screenshot from one of the computer runs showing airflow through the system. The inlet is at the roof, then the air slows down as it goes into the intercooler (radiator to cool the air after the turbo). The air then exits at nearly free-stream air under the vehicle. Green is free-stream air, red is faster and blue is slower air speed. We still have a bit to go on this, but we are very close!

Intercooler Flow Validation

Supply chain and beneficial alliances   

I think an agile viewpoint will be needed in working out how we best handle imported parts for our supply chain. Some parts can be made or are being made in the US. However, many parts are not. Tariffs may lead to those parts eventually being made in the US. In the meantime, it means higher costs for some parts, and in the case of electric motors, we may have to build them ourselves through a license from the overseas manufacturer.

Beyond Motors in Slovenia was chosen as our primary electric motor supplier as they have correct sizes for some of our applications and the ability and desire to provide custom motors for the other applications. They are very good motors and have great power for their weight (see image below) The motors are already in service for ground, marine, and air applications in Europe. We have not seen a comparable motor being made in the US. Beyond has said that they would be willing to send us components to assemble here, which should avoid the tariff. It just means we would need to establish a motor assembly line in addition to everything else.

Last month, Samson had the great opportunity to exhibit at the world’s leading composites show – JEC WORLD 2025 – in Paris, France. This huge event just celebrated their 60th year. Pictured here (left to right) are Michael Maxwell, Samson R&D Chief (and composites guru), his assistant April Bartos and our host Ed Rose, Business Development Manager for Aditya Birla Chemicals (USA), Inc. Aditya Birla invited us to display in their booth, as their guests. They were displaying composite materials similar to those we use in the Switchblade.

Aditya Birla is a multi-national group of enterprises, with annual revenues of $103 Billion. Our nice display of the small models of the Switchblade in driving and in flying mode at their big booth captured tremendous attention. Being there with them gave us a great opportunity to speak to hundreds of interested people over the 3-day show. These were people who use composite materials and machines as well as those who supply those to companies. Michael and April reported that people kept saying how excited they were to learn about our flying sports car! Everyone was very impressed with its versatility and how practical it is. They could all imagine using it – flying and driving wherever they wanted to go. A week after they returned from the show, Ed Rose came to visit us in Oregon. We have since been working out details of a comprehensive supply agreement for composite materials and perhaps more.

The company produces electronics, wiring harnesses, and other items of interest. Their composites are very cost effective so even a tariff would not dampen our enthusiasm for their use. There are other manufacturers and chemists in the US that have materials we could use as well. It is always good to have more than one source for the things we need to survive as a business. Much more to be determined as this all plays out over the next year or so!

Flight training program and VR goggles

Samson has always expressed interest in providing training for our clients and customers for different aspects of the vehicle. Pilot training is one of those aspects, and it is one that our marketing surveys show will be highly important. Over 80% of the potential buyers for a Switchblade from the Regional Traveler market in the US were shown to be non-pilots. The numbers from the survey were tremendous, showing the potential for over a million vehicle sales from the 21 million Regional Traveler public in the US alone.

Whatever the actual sales number becomes, it is sure to be big! And pilot training will be in big demand. Part of our initial fundraise for production is to start the pilot training program ahead of production to get a jump on this and bring in some initial income to Samson.

In the past we had developed a large dome simulator that was an incredible resource for student pilots. While we didn’t spend tremendous funds on this, it gave us a benchmark for our future program. Recent advancements in VR goggles have leapfrogged ahead, though, and we saw just two days ago how much of an improvement this was even compared to our very nice dome simulator.

Just to give an idea of this, we had a screen-type simulator being used in front of our plywood cabin mockup. The mockup has been used to establish ease of entry and exit of the vehicle, and other ergonomics of the cabin. There are controls for flight and driving inside, and we hooked those up to an engineering-based flight simulator to also check the pilot feel of take-off and landing with the new vehicle. This can be simulated fairly accurately.

Both non-pilots and experienced pilots had difficulty handling the landing (and also sometimes take-off process) using the screen-based approach to this. I warned everyone that in my experience it is more difficult to fly a sim than the real thing, so they didn’t feel badly about it, but it was not very satisfactory for anyone. Then our aero engineering consultant, Bryan Sandoz, worked diligently to integrate VR goggles into the simulator so we could fly using the goggles. This provided much greater situational awareness. The results were astounding. It was like a night and day difference, with all users noticing huge improvements in their ability to handle the vehicle. When I tried it, it was just like I was flying a real aircraft, and the process became effortless.

We see this as the next evolution in flight training and will ensure our flight training simulators take advantage of this technology. It will allow a much easier and cost-effective way to supply flight simulators for Switchblade pilots/trainees at our future Regional Centers.

The Plan

The plan is still to build the first production body and do taxi testing in early fall of this year. As we do the testing, we will build the wings and tail so we can bolt those on and flight test in late fall, hopefully before the winter weather sets in.

This testing will clear the way to build the next two production test vehicles and after more testing we will be able to bring the production vehicles to more events around the US. This will allow many of you to see the Switchblade in action and up close, and get a feel for what your future holds.

About a year from now, we will begin to move the fixtures, molds, and some equipment into the assembly facility. It will take probably at least six months to get the assembly facility up and running, but we will then be producing Switchblades at scale! That will definitely be cause for celebration.

Closing

The Samson Team (our staff, supporters, Owners, suppliers, investors) are achieving what no other group on Earth has been able to do: bring into production a viable flying car. One that is high-performance in both modes, protects and encloses the flying surfaces in ground mode (and as such is insurable), and remains relatively affordable. This is incredible, heroic, historic, and visionary. This is now our time to shine, and the world is waking up to the idea that we are the future of transportation. The revolutionary step forward into the skies of tomorrow. Your skies. Our skies.

Blue Skies,
Sam
CEO/Founder

Video Link for Accredited Investors

Samson is inviting like-minded visionaries who have a burning desire to bring the next big thing to the world, better mankind, make a lot of money (lots of zeros), and have fun doing it. We were happy to revise our investment documents that introduce our business opportunity. We’re thinking of mounting a Unicorn spike as a hood ornament!

For those who may have looked at investing in Samson before, the game has massively increased, and it is definitely worth taking another look.

Investing in Samson Sky
samsonsky.com/investors

Switchblade in the News

Check out the latest media about the Switchblade and Samson Sky

Boss magazine

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