Look up! This company is on track to finish the first flying car
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - In the race to be the first company to produce a flying car for commercial consumption, Samson Sky believes it’s getting closer to the finish line.
”This is what people have been dreaming of for decades and we are in the process of making them now,” said Sam Bousfield, founder and CEO of the Oregon-based company.
He created the Switchblade flying sports car, a sleek three-wheeled vehicle that can sprout wings at the push of a button and take to the air.
”The nice thing about anything that flies is the tremendous space available,” he said. “You go up in the air and instantly you can dodge left, dodge right, go up a thousand feet, go up two thousand, four thousand, six thousand. You spread out tremendously up there.”
Bousfield is a professional architect by trade. He has been working on his flying vehicle for over a decade, along with a team of engineers and experts.
”There’s been flying cars since the fifties, but no one has solved it in a commercial sense, a business sense that’s viable. That’s what we decided to do, is do something that not only is technically proficient but actually commercially successful,” he said.
In November, the Switchblade successfully completed its first test flight, meeting all expectations, and giving Bousfield ideas for how to enhance his flying car. The team at Samson Sky updated the design and gave it more boost to fly faster.
The hope is that production will start in just a couple of years.
”At that point we’ll be kicking them out and growing as fast as we possibly can,” Bousfield said.
The Switchblade is street legal, and FAA approved. Takeoffs and landings must be done from airports or airfields. That means no going airborne just to get out of gridlock.
And owners will need a driver’s or motorcycle operator’s license, plus a private pilot’s certificate.
”The Switchblade in the air follows the same rules and is governed the same as any other aircraft that’s out there,” Bousfield said.
The flying car comes with standard safety measures and add-ons like a parachute for emergency landings. There’s even a special model that will be sold to people who live on an island.
”If you had to ditch at sea between the islands, it has built-in flotation that allows you to stay high and dry while rescue is done,” Bousfield said.
Interest in the Switchblade is taking off. Samson Sky has about 2,700 reservations from people in 58 countries and all 50 states, including Hawaii.
If you want to get your hands on one, the price will start at around $170,000.
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