Sam Bousfield, CEO Samson Sky speaks at the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, among 85 of the world’s decision makers who are playing a role in shaping the future of how people move. As the designer of the Switchblade Flying Sports Car, he shared details on integrating AI into the cockpit of Switchblade production vehicles, as well as where AI can be used to simplify flying in busy airspace.
“We made the trip to Dubai to speak at a world convention on self-driving transport and met some very nice people and business leaders along the way. It is amazing what is being done in that part of the world, and the architecture is astonishing! (I was an architect for 26 years and have seen a few buildings in my time!)”
Sam Bousfield
CEO & Founder
Dubai World Congress for Self-driving Transport
As you may know, I was in Dubai (with a short trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) for two weeks and just returned to Oregon on Oct. 4th.
On September 24th I was honored to speak at the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, among 85 of the world’s decision makers who are playing a role in shaping the future of how people move. Our press release was picked up by Yahoo Finance Global as well as many other big news outlets and the total potential audience was over 64 million people. An image of me on stage is above.
I presented my vision of the future and the potential for autonomous drive and fly regional travel. As the designer of the Switchblade Flying Sports Car, I shared details on integrating AI into the cockpit of Switchblade production vehicles, as well as where AI can be used to simplify flying in busy airspace. I also highlighted how Samson is adopting the technologies required to bring future generation Switchblades up to full autonomous drive and fly. Link to the Yahoo Finance story:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/samson-sky-ceo-speaks-dubai-123900011.html
As a result of the talk, we were invited to meet with the Dubai Minister for Business and Tourism, His Excellency Dr. Abdelrahman Mohamed Ali Shehab AlHosani, who is helping us reach the correct people at Dubai’s Transportation Department including for aircraft. He is shown in the image below holding the flying Switchblade model. To his right is Dr. Sanjar Muminov of the Dubai Investment Center, to my left is Samson Board member (and Fundraising Chair) James Mauch holding the driving Switchblade model, and to the left of James is business leader Maksim Domoratskiy and Samson Ambassador Anna Grebenshchikova.
The Latest Results For Completed Parts
We wanted to bring you up to speed on the parts most recently completed for the first of the three production Switchblades! The front quarter panels on the left and right side of the nose of the vehicle were completed a bit earlier and below are the first images we’ve shown of them. You can see in the two images below the left and right side of the nose has been completed. The front hood parts are nearly done also. With these done we can complete the nose cone as the first completed sub-assembly for the Switchblade. We will also use these parts to make a test of the radiator ducting and heat rejection.
Small Belly Pan Part
The rear belly pan part is shown below. This is the portion of the belly pan that is removable for maintenance. You can see the left to right rounding of the belly pan in this part (top of screen is left side and bottom is right side). Most cars are flat underneath. The Switchblade is slightly curved from left to right to allow any gust from the side, such as from a passing semi-trailer or strong cross wind, to pass underneath over the curved surface.
As the Bernoulli Principle states, you can speed up the air over a surface and produce a lower pressure (suction) as a result. Older cars had carburetors that operated on this principle to suck fuel into the air going to the engine. The Switchblade uses aerodynamics in this way on the ground to produce a suction under the vehicle to pull it down tighter to the road surface when hit with a gust from the side. In the air, this is not a factor, as our very high airspeed overpowers any smaller side component from the air when flying.
Front Hood Fiberglass Part
The front hood fiberglass part is being made by the infusion process, which is a wet-layup done by laying in dry fabric (fiberglass looks white when dry), and then bagging it and using vacuum to pull resin in through the fibers. This doesn’t require the mold to go into the oven and gives us that first part we can use to test the radiator ducting and efficiency which is so critical to establish as soon as possible.
This part also has a large portion of the windshield (right side of image) that will also be used in the testing of the airflow through the radiator, as that is what the air will see on the way out of the radiator outlet at the rear of the front hood (base of windshield). Next the carbon fiber parts will be made in the oven for the hood and the roof as they are made on the same large mold, and then we retire that huge mold.
Rear Quarter Panels
We were expecting the rear quarter panels to be done but found on our shop tour to the parts makers that they were just done gluing up the wood mold layers. The wood is now being carved on a large milling machine in the image below. This shows one of the two very large molds for the rear quarter panels which still have a few days left on the machines to finish being made into a mold. Then they will be cleaned up, coated, and be ready for parts to be made from them.
Engine Test Stand
Our hybrid engine stand is nearly complete, and in the image above you can see Samson Engineer, Tanner Vaughn, test fitting the fuel tank in its location. The tank fit snugly, just like it should. The next steps include carving a few custom engine mounts, setting up the electrical and plumbing of cooling lines, and establishing a control panel on the two taller uprights shown in the image. This work is ongoing in our electrical room, where Samson staff Kelly Tomlinson is shown below examining the first of several cable runs required for the engine electrical. She has on her desk the start of the second one.
Business Plan Upgrades
One bonus from the trip to the Middle East was the establishment of a Business-to-Business use case for the Switchblade for Express Mail Courier service. It turned out that the Switchblade Direct Operating Cost for something like a Courier Service rivals that of the Cessna Caravan which was specifically designed for that role by Cessna for FedEx. Using a Switchblade, there is evidence that Express Mail could be improved and made less costly. Good news for FedEx or whoever may utilize fleets of certified Switchblades for such a service.
We have also mapped out the path to full autonomous driving and flying in the future and are introducing the AI Co-Pilot as a first step in that direction. We are not willing to let AI loose with control, but we can have an AI co-pilot help with monitoring and flagging Air Traffic Control communications and spotting aircraft that we should pay attention to when flying in high-traffic zones like Los Angeles or around big airports. In a ‘shackled’ role, AI can be very helpful to make flying in even dense traffic safer and more enjoyable.
As a result, we have upgraded our Business Plan Outline (six pages), and have a five-minute video, Switchblade Business Intro that have proven to be very useful in presenting the business case for the Switchblade. You can click on the links above and below to access these if you like, and feel free to pass the links to anyone you feel may be interested. It all helps get the word out on this amazing product, which we are honored to bring to the world. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can give. You never know who other people know, and this is how we find out.
Starting Your Switchblade Lifestyle Upgrade
In the recent articles about our game-changing manufacturing program, I was quoted as saying: “Just having a flying car brings incredible prestige, but being able to say that you built it elevates you to Tony Stark status.”
Maybe you should get your Tony Stark badge and put a $500 Deposit down to gain a fixed delivery position. Deposit
Blue Skies
Sam
CEO/Founder
Switchblade in the News
Check out the latest media about the Switchblade and Samson Sky
Supercar Blondie
Across all platforms combined, Supercar Blondie has over 125 million followers worldwide.
https://supercarblondie.com/flying-cars-aeromobil-alef-model-a-xpeng/
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Yahoo Finance
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/samson-sky-ceo-speaks-dubai-123900011.html
