Samson Sky Sees Increased Sales for ‘Switchblade’ Flying Car

It can be driven to a nearby airport and once there, the wings swing out and the tail extends in under three minutes.

During the week-long AirVenture aviation celebration in Oshkosh, WI, USA, Samson Sky said it added 115 vehicle orders, valued at nearly $22 million, for its Switchblade flying car. The company said the two-seat flying sports car now has more than 2,400 reservations from 57 countries. In addition to reservations, more than 100 vehicles have been pre-purchased.

The test flights so far have been held at the Moses Lake Airport in Central Washington, with a flight test team making certain that the testing was accomplished successfully. Powered by a 200 hp liquid cooled Samson 3 engine, the vehicle is being run through a flight test program to validate flight capabilities and find and correct any deviations from the company’s goal of “high performance in both modes” as a car and a plane. Flight testing will continue for several months before finalizing the production engineering that will allow Samson to start Switchblade production.

The team spent nearly four years developing carbon fiber production processes to enable the company to ramp up parts production quickly and at much less cost than the current state of the art.

The Switchblade is a three wheel, street-legal vehicle that can be parked in a garage. It can be driven to a nearby airport and once there, the wings swing out and the tail extends in under three minutes. The Switchblade can then be flown as a registered aircraft at up to 160 miles per hour. After landing, the Switchblade can be changed back into a car.

“The feedback we’re getting is, the practicality of the Switchblade checks all the boxes for what people truly want in a flying car,” says Bousfield. “We hope a Switchblade will grace the skies and streets of your city very soon.”

Industrial Equipment News Staff